Stuck
by kammad42
Summary: A Bethyl story. What if Beth never got kidnapped? What if Daryl saved her before the kidnappers could snatch her? And what if they, too, saw the Terminus sign and decided to go there to find another sanctuary after the prison? Beth and Daryl are polar opposites, but when they're stuck with each other in the apocalypse... feelings will be revealed. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As soon as Beth saw the headlights coming towards her, she froze. She knew that all types of things were possible in the apocalypse. She saw her dad's head get cut off! But she didn't think people would ever want to kidnap anyone anymore. What would be the purpose of that? Beth had no clue. So, she was more that a little shocked when she saw two bright yellow lights coming her way at full speed down the dark road.

She saw the car speed up as she stood there like a deer in the headlights. "Beth!" She heard. It was muffled. Is this what it's like right before you die, she thought to herself. Then, suddenly, two arms grabbed her waist and pulled her to the side.

Beth grunted as she hit the ground. She quickly came to her senses as she realized what was happening. A shudder rolled down her spine as she jump up off of the dirt and looked down around to find Daryl getting onto his feet. He pulls her into the shadow of a tree as the car abruptly stops and someone steps out of the passenger seat with a crowbar. The figure swears as he whips his head to side-to-side looking for the blonde.

Daryl lets out a relieved breath after the person gets back inside of the vehicle. Then he realizes that they're temporary safe house was bombarded with walkers, so he grabs Beth's arm gently, then stops when ehe notices she's shaking. He looks down at the small girl. "Hey. We gotta go." He tells her. She looks at him with wild eyes and he gently grabs her elbow to move her out from the side of the tree. "Where's your stuff?" he asks. She slowly takes back her elbow and steps onto the side of the road, looking both ways first.

She then snatches her backpack off of the ground and slings it quickly onto her back. She glances back to look at Daryl and he nods forward to signal to her to start moving. She takes off at a running start with Daryl right beside her as they spring away from their only sanctuary since they've found since the prison. And, like the prison, it didn't last for very long.

Daryl speaks up after almost a mile of transitioning from running to walking to jogging all night when the duo comes to a crossroads. "Which way do ya' wanna go, girl?" he grunts. Beth shrugs her weak shoulders. They've had to take a few breaks throughout the rest of the night due to her ankle injury. After a short moment of contemplation, she points to the direction of the way the sun is coming up.

They decide to turn to the right after a while, and follow the sun. This time, they stick to just walking. Beth speaks up after hours of silence. "Thanks." She says. Daryl glances at Beth, squinting. He notices how dirty she looks. She has mud in her hair that almost makes it brown, and her polo has multiple red blood stains.

He grunts. "Didn't do nothin.'" Her jaw almost drops and it takes her a few seconds to think of a right answer. "You pulled me out from the middle of the road while I just stood there like an idiot." After this statement, Beth gazes down at the road in front of her. "You were just in shock, that's all." He replies. "Yeah, but-" And she gets cut off.

She looked sideways at Daryl as she was speaking and what she noticed behind him was what she stopped speaking at. Then she roughly grabs his arm and pulls him back into the woods. "What was that for?" Daryl demands. Beth just puts a finger up to her mouth to shush him. Taking her word for it, he obeys.

When they've waited some minutes, they hear voices. "-s this way." They hear. The voice belongs to a man. Beth and Daryl hear leaves crunching as many people approach the forest that they're momentarily hiding in.

They realize their mistake a minute too late. They freeze when they hear a gun cock and the same voice say, "Lookie what we got here. A bowman, and a girl. What to do, what to do…"

The two allies slowly turn around to face the group of men all pointing some sort of weapon at them. The group leader analyzes them, and vice versa. Then, he lowers his rifle and sticks his barrell of it in the ground. Daryl stays stiff and shifts to the right a bit, more in front of Beth instead of just next to her. It doesn't go unnoticed by the rest of the people surrounding him. The leader speaks in a soft, yet intimidating voice. "Now, if you don't hurt us, we won't hurt you."

Beth can feel the pocket knife in her back pocket like weights are pulling her down. Her hand itches to pull it out, but she knows that that would just cause more trouble. She know Daryl thinks the same because he hasn't moved his crossbow from his side. The next thing the man says makes both of them go on edge and stiffen so tight their bones ache. "But, we do need you to come with us. Or be forced to come." He shrugs. "Your choice."

**A/N: Hey guys! First of all, thx for reading this, if you finished this chapter! Please review, favorite, and follow the story! That would just make me feel sssooo warm and fuzzy inside! Also, please check out my other stories, Walking On Hot Coals, and Broken; A TWD Story. I update all of my stories daily, and this is a brand new one. Feel free to tell me in the reviews who you think the group is that Daryl and Beth ran into! I'll give you a hint; it's someone from the TV Show and/or comics. THX FOR READING! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two men were behind Daryl and two were behind Beth as they walked next to each other, uncertain of what's going on. One guy took Daryl's crossbow, but Beth's knife was still hidden deep in her back pocket. It's the only thing that was keeping her from grabbing Daryl, turning around, and running for her life. And, you know, the fact that they would shoot them before they could move one foot in front of the other.

Beth counted her steps to distract herself from what might happen. She didn't want to think about it. When she looked over at Daryl, he was staring at her with a curious look. She quickly turned away and looked straight ahead, trying not to squirm under his gaze.

She felt like a prisoner like this, being forced by these people to walk for miles. All she wanted to do right now was curl up into and cry her eyes out, But, she would never admit that, Or even have the ability to do that in this world. Not with the chance of her being killed in the next minute. Beth hesitantly looks towards her ally again. He was now glaring daggers into the Joe's back. His stance was rigid and tense. He had his jaw clenched. Beth wondered what he would do to him if they ever got out of this situation.

She staggered on her step a little and almost fell on the ground, then heard a few chuckles come from behind her. She tried to ignore it, but the chuckles get louder. Her face flushes in anger. She cranes her neck behind her and growls, "You got a problem?" They just laugh harder. Beth, completely annoyed, turns around and stomps up to the men. Daryl steps up right behind Beth, ready to back her up if he needs to.

"I asked you a question, douchebag!" She yells in one man's face. The man behind him laughs again. "Oh, Len, you'd better watch out. Girlie here may start a _catfight _with ya.'" Daryl steps in front of the man that is unnamed. "Hey. Leave the girl alone." Beth wanted to yell at him at that moment. She wanted to tell him that she could take care of herself. She'd done it many times before. But now wasn't the time for that.

The man names Len placed a hand on Beth's shoulder and she shrugged it off. He gave her a smug smile before pushing her shoulders back hard enough to push her to the ground.

Daryl immediately grabbed Len's arm and delivered a punch to his jaw. Beth got on her feet and pulled her knife out of her back pocket. She was surprised when she felt arms pin her from behind, snatch her knife from her hand, and put the cool metal against her neck. Daryl abruptly stopped what he was doing to look at the scene in front of him,

In fact, everybody stopped and the only thing you could hear was Beth's strained and heavy breaths. "Joe, how much farther is the safe house?" Len asked. Joe put his head right next to Beth's ear and said, "Not much farther. Can you fellas' restrain yourselves 'till we get there?" Daryl steps forward slowly. "If you let the girl go." he simply replies. Joe nods and removes his knife from Beth's neck, gently pushing her towards Daryl. But, he keeps Beth's knife in his hand.

After Beth is free and they're moving again, Daryl touches Beth's shoulder and whispers, "You alright?" He feels the need to make sure. Beth nods. "I'm fine," she says. He stays by her side, anyway.

By the time they get to the warehouse Joe had led them to, it's dark outside. Daryl was worried about that. If they had any chance of escaping, he wanted it to be daylight. At night, there was a big chance of getting separated. He hated the idea of being separated.

They walked up to the old warehouse and immediately opened the metal door. Daryl and Beth were both perplexed by their lack of focus and care. What if there were walkers inside? They wouldn't have enough time to raise their guns from their sides and shoot it before it came out of the shadows and jumped on them.

When everyone was inside, the rest of the men went over to a desk that was thrown in the corner of the warehouse. He got out a lantern and turned it on, brightening the room. Daryl and Beth stood in the middle of the big space, with the rest of the group circled around them, making escaping impossible. Joe stepped towards them. "Now, I'm going to make this short." He looks at Daryl. "We could use a bowman in our group. If you wanna, of course." Then he looked at Beth and make an unfortunate look.

"This one, I'm not so sure can stay." Daryl spoke up instantly. "She goes where I go." Joe looked at him for a few seconds, as if he was studying all of his weaknesses and strengths to later use against him. Then he just nods. "Okay. Blondie stays." "My name is Beth." She interjects. Joe gives her a tight smile. She doesn't return it. Then Joe looks at Daryl. "I'm Daryl." He grunts. "Awesome." Then he turns back to the men. "Teach 'em the rules, fellas.'"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Beth tenses and Daryl steps in front of her. Len steps forward and opens his hands up. "Hey. We ain't gonna do nothin' to ya. We're just gonna tell you the rules.'" Beth and Daryl don't move an inch. Len continues. "Anyway, if ya see somethin' ya want, ya gotta claim it." Daryl's eyebrows furrow. Len sees this, and speaks again, "Just say the word. 'Claimed.'" Beth step forward closer behind Daryl and touches his arm to whisper to him. "We shouldn't trust these people." Daryl gives her a short nod, but she keeps her hand on his arm,

Joe steps forward now. "Listen, it's real late, we've been walking all day, let's go to sleep then wake up in the morning to talk. We can sort everything out then." He turns to walk away. "Give us out weapons back," Beth speaks up. She felt bare without having protection against these strangers. Joe pulls out her pocket knife and hands it to her. She hesitantly reaches out to take it back from him. One of the unnamed men steps forward and hands Daryl his crossbow. Daryl snatches it out of his hands. All of the group scatters around the warehouse, and most march upstairs. The remaining two go to a corner.

Daryl and Beth go up the stairs to the third floor, with no one else up there. "We should take different watches. It's not safe for us both to sleep. I'll go first." Daryl says as he slides down the wall. Beth goes over to him and sits down next to him as she leans her head back against the wall.

Before she falls asleep, she feels around for his hand and grabs it. He clutches her hand, too.

"Beth. Beth, wake up." Beth slowly opens her eyes from her deep slumber. Daryl's voice waS coming from the side of her, and it was muffled. As soon as she realized that her head was resting on his shoulder, she lifted her temple up from the fabric, suddenly alert. "It's your turn for the watch." She sighs and nods. She waits for him to fall asleep and for his hand to go limp in hers to say, "Thank you." Then, she leans her head back up against the wall, enjoying the silence before it's interrupted.

"I already told you, I didn't do nothin.'" Beth looks sideways at Daryl and she squeezes his hand again. "You saved me. I could've been dead right now if you didn't." Something stirs in Daryl's chest as she says the words. He recalls her previous statement from the night at the moonshine house. _You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon. _He realized then, he would've missed her a lot if those guys had snatched her and taken her, maybe killed her. He shudders and squeezed Beth's hand back, surprising her and himself. "You woulda' done the same for me." He replies. "You wouldn't be as stupid as me." Beth whispers back, and laughs.

"You ain't stupid, girl. If you were, you wouldn't be alive." The blonde disbelievingly scoffs and shakes her head. "I've just relied on everyone else. I've been trying to do things on my own, but I just can't adapt very well to this world." Then she points to her ankle. "_This _probably wouldn't have happened if I could take care of myself." Daryl shrugs. "That's why I've been teaching you to track, how to use a crossbow… you'll get used to it. You'll 'adapt.' Maybe we'll even get ya' a crossbow of yer own to use," Beth almost snorts. "Yeah, sure. If we're not dead by the morning."

Daryl straightens up a bit to look Beth in the eye. "If you hear anything, just wake me up. If something here happens with one of those guys, you tell me and we'll leave without a second thought. Ya' hear?" The girl nods. Daryl relaxes again against the wall as he falls asleep, leaving Beth to keep watch with her sweaty palm clutching her pocket knife and Daryl's crossbow right beside her.

A few hours later, Beth woke Daryl up at dawn. "Daryl." She shook his arm a bit and let go of his hand. His fist clenched around the air. "Daryl, wake up." His eyes flew open as his arm came out, ready to hurt his attacker. Beth's hand shot out and stopped his arm before it hit her jaw, sending a shock into her body. She looked into his frantic eyes. "Daryl, it's just me. Shh, calm down." His tense muscles loosened as recognition flashed across his face. He awkwardly cleared his throat and drew his arm back. "Sorry." "It's morning," was her simply reply.

After Daryl had woken up, they both traveled downstairs, ready to face their new and temporary group. Everyone was downstairs, ready to hit the road again. Beth and Daryl stayed near each other as Joe came up to them. "Ready to go?" Joe was staring at Beth, which made both Daryl and Beth uncomfortable. "Yeah." Daryl said, his grip tightening around his crossbow. Joe finally glanced at him and nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

**A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry that I didn't update yesterday! I was grounded! I tried to have my BFF post it, then SHE got grounded. Anyway, I'm doing daily updates from now on as long as I don't get grounded. Please favorite, follow, review this story, or even PM me about it! I love to hear your feedback! Thx for reading and I'll see ya tomorrow with another chapter! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Beth and Daryl kept their distance from the claimants as they traveled. Daryl was intent on keeping the both of them safe, no matter what. They each other's hands as they walked, occasionally squeezing each other's palms for reassurance. When the group finally came up to a house, they stopped short.

"Well, this is where we'll be stayin' for the night," Joe said. Beth stepped forward. "So, do you guys have anywhere to go… or are you just moving to survive?" Joe looked back at her. "Someone killed one of our friends, Lou, and left him to turn and we've been looking for 'em for a long time. Wanna get even with the guy."

Daryl felt more unease. He wanted to leave these course, he would stay with Beth, but he wanted a large amount of space between him and the blonde, and the brutal group they were temporarily staying with. Beth felt the same way.

As Joe opened the door to the old house, walkers suddenly started piling out of it. Daryl automatically lifted his crossbow up at the herd, and Beth whipped out her pocket knife. She'd tried to look for a better weapon for herself when the group had raided buildings, but she was unlucky when it came to finding anything.

The men in front of them got out their guns and pointed them at the monsters, now most out in the open. Len took out the first one, the gunshot ringing in the air. Beth was the only one to notice walkers stumbling onto the sidewalk, coming up to the walkway where everyone was. Before she could process it, one of them came up to Daryl and opened its jaw, ready to sink it's teeth into the man's neck.

She yelled Daryl's name as she reacted without thinking and with adrenaline and panic. She quickly threw her knife through the air. The knife spun towards the walker and landed in its skull, right above the eyebrow. Daryl glanced at her, a shocked expression on his face as his attacker fell to the ground in front of him. Beth looked back at him, feeling the same way.

After a few more seconds of processing, Daryl saw another walker behind Beth about 10 yards away. He tossed her the crossbow and she caught it flawlessly. Then she spun around, crossbow in her hands, ready to fire at her attacker. As she looked the the scope to take aim, she pulled the trigger on the weapon. The bolt flew out of the device and sunk itself inside of the decaying brain of the walker, a couple of inches away from its eye socket.

After it fell to the ground, everything was quiet. Daryl bent down to yank Beth's knife out of the walker's skull to give it back to her. She was still clutching the crossbow in front of her, muscles so tense she was shaking and she felt as if they were about to snap. Daryl slowly walked up to her from behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, startling her, making her jump out of her position to face him.

He kept his hand on her shoulder and he handed her her knife back. He feels more than thankful to her for saving him from getting bit and turning, but he didn't think showing his gratitude right now was a good decision. So he settles for a quick, "Thanks." Beth forces a quick smile on her lips as she gives him his crossbow back.

When she turned to look at the rest of the group, she's faced with a closed door and the discovery of the other men already inside. She doesn't hesitate to quickly walk up the patio steps, opening the front door, wanting to escape the previous scene. Wanting to forget the world.

That night, Beth is the first to fall asleep with Daryl staying awake keeping watch. Sometime during the night, Daryl gently wakes her up. "Is it time for my watch yet?" She murmurs, still tired from sleep. He surprises her by shaking his head. She furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "What is it, then?" She tenses. Did he wake her up because something was happening? Or did he want to talk?

"I wanna leave these people." Daryl explains. She blinks. She didn't expect that. "Why," she breathes, clearly confused. "These people." He shakes his head. "They're bad news. I'm worried they'll try something. I know you can take care of yourself, you proved that today, but I still think we should leave them."

Beth takes this into consideration. She thinks back to when she was almost kidnapped. She would be dead without him. And he would be dead without her. If she wouldn't have had the best case of luck when she flung that knife at the walker… it would have bitten Daryl and he wouldn't be here. She shudders at the thought before she nods, agreeing with his decision to move on.

They gather their things up before sneaking around the house to the door. When they open the door and go outside, they discover the bodies of the killed walkers from earlier that day. Beth shudders at the cold. It's almost winter, and all she has is a polo and tan jeans. They run until their out of view from the house, and away from the gruesome group.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The duo broke out into a run as they quickly avoided the walkers, maneuvering around them and the trees. Daryl was ahead of Beth, clearing the path for them to run through. Beth was close on his tail, gripping his arm to stay by his side. Her rib cages were aching and she could see her breath in the cool night air.

The loud sounds of growls surrounded her and made her eardrums hurt. Daryl was struggling to get through, too. He would occasionally lose his grip on his crossbow, making a bolt fly into a tree instead of the brain of a walker. He lost ammo quickly, leaving them defenseless. In this case, Beth was more powerful than Daryl with her pocket knife to defend herself. They relied on speed now.

Finally, they exited the woods, stopping for five seconds then running again. The bushes rustled behind them as the herd of walkers came out. They quickened their pace as much as they could as they came up to a car on the side of the street. They didn't hesitate to jump inside of the backseat of it, crawling to the floorboards.

After a few seconds of silence and the two catching their breaths, the snarling began around the car. Beth held her breath while clutching her knife so tight in her hand, her knuckles turned white. Daryl was impatient to get out of the small space and to find some place for more ammo. He had no more arrow left for his crossbow.

After a while, the walkers were still outside, crossing the street. While Daryl was grateful they were unnoticed inside of the car, his eyelids were occasionally drooping from exhaustion. He looked over at Beth. She was heavily sleeping.

While he wanted to wake her up in case they needed to move, he also felt protective of the girl. He wanted to protect her and make sure she stayed well. Hoping she wouldn't wake up, he reached his hand over to her hair, moving a strand that had fallen in front of her face. Then, he grabbed her hand gently, hoping to not wake her. Eventually, the noises stopped. Daryl waited a few minutes just in case before waking Beth up,

He gave her shoulder a small nudge and squeezed her palm. She took in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes before rubbing them and opening them again. She squeezed his hand back. "What's goin' on?" She asked Daryl. "The walkers are gone, 'S time to go." She nodded as she started to sit up so she could exit. Daryl did the same, stepping out of the vehicle the stretch out his stiff legs. He observed that it was still dark outside and was hopeful that he would be able to fit in an hour or two of sleep before it was time to start moving again. If they found somewhere, of course.

Beth circled the car to come around to Daryl's side. She was shivering and her teeth were chattering in the cold. Daryl quickly shrugged off his vest and handed it to her. She accepted it, her cheeks a bright red, and whispered a quick thanks. They started off to the right, hoping to find some shelter for the rest of the night.

Daryl almost dropped to the ground in relief when they came up to a weapons store off the highway they were traveling on. It was the first building they had seen since the house with Joe's group. They stopped in the middle of the road to and crossed the street to approach the store. Thankfully, the door was conveniently unlocked. Before they went inside, Beth banged on the door multiple times, double checking for any walkers they couldn't see through the windows. When nothing came, they entered the store with their hopes high.

Daryl automatically went to look for crossbow bolts, while Beth looked at the glass counter with pistols, rifles, and machine guns inside. The counter went all the way across the front wall of the store. Finally seeing one that would suit her, she broke the glass. The shards fell down on top of the guns. Beth grabbed a pistol and another case of ammo. The gun was already loaded when she fished it out. She put it in the waistband of her jeans and put the ammo in her back pocket.

Daryl came running around the corner now, with two crossbows in his hand and about a dozen and a half bolts. _Two crossbows, _Beth wondered. _Why does he have two? _"Why two?" She asked, voicing her thoughts. "Thought you might be ready for yer' own." Daryl said. Beth widely grinned at him as she reached for it. It was just like his. It was decorated in camouflage. And she was better with it than she was with Daryl's. She slung the strap of it over her shoulder as Daryl went around her to get a gun of his own. When they'd gotten their weapons, they went behind the counter while it was still night and fell asleep, passing out from exhaustion.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Beth woke up in the morning surrounded by warmth. She craned her neck around to see Daryl's face inches from her's. She still had his vest on. His arm was limp around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He face was turned into his shoulder. Daryl hadn't woken up yet. She slowly tried to wriggle her way out from under his arm, but Daryl just pulled her back to him in his sleep. She almost laughed.

After many tries, she finally got free. Daryl's arm fell on the ground next to him, and he mumbled something without waking up. Beth chuckled under her breath as she stood up. She straightened the strap on her crossbow, happy and grateful that she finally has a long-distance weapon of her own. She wouldn't get lucky enough again like she did with the knife-throwing to save Daryl. That was pure adrenaline and panic.

She decided to step outside for a moment. As she stepped out, the sun shone down on her face. It was still chilly, though she wasn't very cold with Daryl's vest still on. She clutched it to her chest and breathed in the cold air.

Too soon, she heard the ring of a bell behind her, signaling the door opening. Daryl walked out and stood next to her, feeling better than before he fell asleep. They both had more energy and stamina from the good sleep.

"Ya' ready to go?" He asked her. She double-checked herself to make sure all of her weapons had been on her and tucked in, hidden. Her pocket knife was still in her back pocket, along with the rounds for the pistol, which was still in her waistband. Then, she turned to look at Daryl. "Yeah. Let's go."

They started down the road, until they decided to go into the woods to the other side of the highway to hunt for food. When they entered the wood, they put little distance apart from each other, close enough that they could keep each other in their sights, but far enough so they can both find their own games.

Daryl spotted a squirrel first. He quickly fired at it with his crossbow and new bolt, hitting it in the eye. He smirks at himself as the squirrel drops to the ground, dead. He jerks the bolt out of it and stuffs it in his bag.

Beth isn't paying attention to him, though. She's focused on finding food of her own. She wanted to prove to Daryl that she was improving. She knew she was. But she wanted to show him she was. And as soon as she spotted the rabbit, she closed one eye and aimed at her target through the scope.

She hit it right in the snout. SHe lowered her crossbow as the animal fell to the ground and she shrugged. Better than missing it. Daryl came up to her side as she reloaded her crossbow, cleaning the bolt off and putting it back. "Nice shot," he complimented. Beth grinned at him. "Thanks."

She threw the rabbit into Daryl's bag. She still needed to get one of her own. Daryl and Beth both threw their crossbows over their backs as they walked out of the woods. Daryl had gotten a pistol from the weapons store, and that was tucked over his shirt in his waistband.

After walking a while on the road, they came across train tracks. "Should we follow 'em?" Beth asked Daryl. He shrugged. "Maggie and the rest of them would've followed them. Let's go." She started walking on the tracks without any sign of hesitation. Daryl followed beside her.

He wanted to tell her things. He wanted to tell her that the chances of them finding any of the rest of group was slim to none. He wanted to say that they would have to rely on only each other to live, because they probably weren't going to find anybody else that they knew. He wanted to tell Beth not to get her hopes too high. But, he didn't have the heart to. He didn't want to disappoint her.

As they kept walking, Beth began to grow more worried. At sunset, and after staying on the tracks all day, they came across a read train cart with a sign on it. The sign read, _Community for all, sanctuary for all. Those who arrive survive. Terminus. _Below the words was a map from where they were leading to one spot in the center. There was many different routes on the map, too.

Beth looked at Daryl. He was trying to think of what this might lead to. What if it was a trap? What if it was like Woodbury? He had been there before, and it certainly wasn't't a sanctuary. He didn't want Beth and himself walking in there, thinking it was some sort of new safe haven. But what if it was? What if they could be there and stay safe, in a whole new community and a new environment?

He focused on Beth's still hopeful face. "If the group saw this, if Maggie or Glenn saw this, they would head there." She told him. She wanted to believe it, but even Beth had her doubts. She had to keep telling herself they were still alive to get herself to keep moving. Daryl slowly nodded and narrowed his eyes at the sign. "Okay. Let's go." With one more glance at the train car, they started the walk in the direction of the new place they were hopeful would be good.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

They stopped sometime around noon to cook the squirrel. Beth wanted to speed down to Terminus, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. She had to be patient until she got there. And, she had to remind herself that Maggie might not even be there. Every time she thought of that her heart practically sank. Then she would look over at Daryl and remembered that she had him.

Some place inside of her also wondered if this Terminus really was what they explained it to be. What if it was a trap? She always thought about what if there were too many people there? What if they couldn't fit them in there, so they had to kick them to the curb, and Beth would never know if Maggie was ever there.

"Beth?" Her wide and startled eyes leaped up to meet his from across the small fire they had built. Concern was written all over her face. She found herself nervously tapping her foot on the dirt and picking at her dirty fingernail in anxiety. "Hmm?" "You okay?" He really was concerned. She could tell, too. But, she shrugged. "It's nothing."

He gave her an unconvinced look. She sighed in frustration and forced a smile onto her face. "It's really nothing. You don't have to worry about me." "Beth, I worry about you every day, and me, and if we're going to die the next minute. Of course I have to worry about you." Beth's chin fell against her chest and she looked down to her folded hands in her lap.

Beth finally spoke her thought after a while, still looking at her hands. "What if… what if Terminus is bad news?" she asks him. He was concerned about that, too, and he was glad that she could see something might go wrong. He didn't want her to practically break if Maggie or the group wasn't at Terminus.

"I don't know, Beth. I guess we'll just have to see." "But, what of it's too late!? What if they kill us as soon as we walk in!? That plan isn't exactly the best!" She yells. "Ya' got anythin' better, girlie?" He raised his voice, too. Beth glared at him. "Don't call me girlie." She replies, her voice calm.

Daryl still had a scowl on his face. "I'm sorry for yelling. I'm just really scared and confused right now." "So am I." Daryl grunted. Beth smiled at his attempt of an apology. She knew he was awkward with this stuff. Her smile faded. "Really though, what if Terminus really is bad news?" Daryl shrugs. "I guess we'll just have to figure it out and stick together."

Later that night, they ran across a blue truck sitting on the side of the road. In front of it was a fire. There were two people sitting at it, but neither Daryl or Beth could make out who they were. They stayed in the shadows as they crept around the car.

Suddenly, a gun cocked. Daryl could see the barrel of the gun against one of the man's temples on the ground. He recognized the face of the man being held at gunpoint. He turned to look at Beth and whisper to her, "It's Rick. Joe's got him held there." Now Beth look over Daryl's shoulder to get a peek.

She could see Rick and Joe clearly from the small fire. Michonne was a bit harder to see, though. Beth gasped as soon as she saw her and stood back next to Daryl. "It's Michonne, too." Joe started counting down loudly. Finally, Daryl decided to go around the corner of the car and reveal himself.

"Joe. Let 'em go. They're good people." Joe looked back at him with wide and surprised eyes. "That's a lie. These people killed Lou." "You want blood. I get it." Daryl dropped his crossbow on the ground and spread his arms open. "Here ya' go, then." he said. Joe looked around at his group. "Teach him men. Teach him all the way."

Beth's eyes widened as a man came up behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee, sending him flying to the ground. Another one dragged him up and slammed him into the side of the car. Beth didn't care about safely right now. She just cared about Daryl.

Beth jumped on the back of the man who was kicking Daryl on the ground. She caught him off guard, which made him stop. Beth somehow got her foot to kick his crotch, and he crouched down in pain from that. She got off of his back and moved around to the front of him, punching him in the jaw. A sharp pain ran up her shoulder as she cradled her hand in the other one, shocked of how much the punch had hurt her.

She quickly turned around and got out her pistol. She shot one of the men in the leg and he fell to the ground next to Daryl. Then Beth felt a sharp and horrible pain on the back of her head, and she, too, fell face first down into the dirt, unconscious.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Beth awoke with a horrible ache in her ribs. She almost screamed when she bent to sit up, but she bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep it in. She felt hands on her waist and jumped. She whipped her head to the side to see Daryl sitting right next to her and was up against the car. She sat back against it, too. He was still holding her.

She noticed he had a black eye and bruises on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked her. He was very concerned. She looked shocked. "Am _I _okay? Daryl, you have bruises all over you." He shrugged. "It's no big deal." She was taken aback by his lack of care for himself, but decided to let it go. She sighed, and was shocked by how much her stomach hurt.

She instinctively pressed her hands to her stomach, right where Daryl's were resting as she hissed through her teeth. She quickly removed them as soon as she realized what she had done. Daryl did, too, but he still stayed sitting right next to her.

To answer his question, she replied, "I'm fine." He knew she was lying. "Then what was that?" She shrugged and gritted her teeth together when the pain came back, but this time it was in her shoulder blades. She didn't remember getting kicked in the ribs or back, though.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Though, I do want to know what happened after one of those guys hit my head." Beth's head was throbbing and it felt like a hammer was banging against it. She tried to ignore it, but the pain was too severe to ignore.

Daryl's jaw clenched as he recalled the previous events. "One of the guys knocked you out, then they started kickin' and beatin' you, too." Beth puts her hand on his elbow, silently telling him he didn't have to say anything else. He still continued. "And I couldn't do anything. I just let myself get beaten while all my... friends were dying."

Beth interrupted him. "Daryl." she said sternly. Then a little softer she said, "You couldn't do anything. Nobody's blaming you. Are Rick and Michonne okay? I didn't see what happened to them..." Daryl nodded. "Carl's here, too." Beth felt a little swell of hope in her chest. If they had all survived, Maggie probably had, too.

"Are you sure yer' okay, Beth?" She nodded once, but decided against it when the throbbing got worse. "I'm fine." She lied through clenched teeth. Daryl frowned. She knew he didn't believe her, but it was worth a shot. Giving in, she tells him, "It's just that my head hurts a little. No big deal." He nodded, but still looked unconvinced.

"Where were Michonne, Rick, and Carl headed?" Beth asked. "Same place we are. Terminus." She smiled at that. Beth figured most of the group would go there. "Are we still goin' there," she questioned him, hopeful.

She knew she would choose staying with Daryl if she had to choose between that and going to Terminus, but she still wanted to at least check out the place. Especially if Maggie really is there. Even if Maggie wasn't there, she still wanted to figure out if it really was a sanctuary.

Daryl nodded. "That's still the plan. 'Cept we'll have more people with us." Daryl wasn't exactly sure if he wanted more people with them. He'd seen Rick bite out Joe's neck last night, but he wouldn't tell her that. Somewhere deep inside of him though, he knew he would probably do the same for Beth, if he had to. The thought made him shudder.

"Is Joe's group dead?" Beth asked quietly. Daryl grabbed and squeezed her hand. "Yeah. They're dead." Beth didn't know what to say to this. She was relieved that they were safe from their once allies, but she was upset because of how this world had changed. She always was when things like this happened.

"Where are the others?" "Carl and Michonne are sleeping in the car, and Rick's on the other side of the car." Daryl replied. "How long was I out for?" It was dawn now. "Since last night." Beth just nodded.

"We're gonna start walking to Terminus again in the afternoon. We're almost there." _Almost to safety_, Beth thought. But, she didn't know if that thought was true or not.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**It only took them a few hours after they started walking again to see the big red brick building and the fences around it. They hesitantly approached it, the two archers and Rick at the front, along with Carl and Michonne lagging not that far behind them. Daryl had the location of the bag of guns they had buried and was on high alert, as was Beth. Except, Beth was also hopeful.**

**"We should go around the back way. Get a look at 'em before they can see us," Daryl suggested. The rest of the group agrees as they travel around the are to the opposite side, then jump the fence. Facing them is a big metal door that's another entrance. **

**The group lowers their weapons to their sides and Beth and Daryl exchange worried glances as Rick opened the door and kept his pistol facing the ground, yet he kept the safety off. Many people were inside. They looked clean and well washed with fresh clothes. Beth yearned for that. But not right now. **

**She suddenly wished that she hadn't put her gun in the buried bag. She had a bad feeling about this place deep down in her gut, and she wanted all the protection that she could get. Just in case. It was too late, though.**

**One man of many in the light room stepped forward and raised his arms up. Beth and Daryl were analyzing the room and the people in it. "You're not going to steal from us, are you?" The man asked. Rick answers, "No. We saw the signs. We wanted to see you before you could see us." **

**Beth was itching to ask about Maggie as she nervously shifted in her boots. Daryl sensed her unease. He leaned towards her and grabbed her hand, squeezing it from the side. She squeezes back and grits her teeth. "Smart," the man continued. He opens his arms wide now. "Well, we'll have to search you for other weapons, so put the ones you're holding on the ground in front of you." **

**They hesitantly leaned down and dropped their crossbows in front of them, glancing at each other. A few people came up the bunch of five, quickly patting them down. Beth sent a dirty look to the young man and he looked to the ground, embarrassed, as he pats her down. As soon as they're done, they hand them their weapons back, but Daryl and Beth snatch their's up before the strangers can touch them. **

** "****I'm Gareth," the man says. "This is Michonne, Carl, Daryl, and Beth. I'm Rick." Another man came up next to Gareth. Gareth motions towards him while still keeping his eyes on the group. "This is Alex. We got nothin' to offer here, but he'll take you to the front. The welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer." Silence hung around the air for a while before Alex stepped up. "Follow me."**

**The group left behind the other people to follow Alex in between a few more buildings. Rick and Daryl were engaged in their own conversation, but Beth and Daryl were scanning the place. Beth was also checking for Maggie and maybe Glenn. When they came up to a more populated area, she stopped, smelling meat.**

**They walked up to a grill with a woman cooking unrecognizable meat. Beth's eyebrows drew together. On the farm, she used to cook all the time. But she never cooked anything that looked like this. Daryl gave up analyzing the place and was paying attention to the food in front of him. He was nearly starving. **

**Michonne was asking questions. "Why do you let people in?" "When people being a part of us, we get stronger. That's why we put up the signs." Alex was passing out the meat to everybody now. When he got to Rick though, Rick slammed the plate to the ground, grabbed a watch out of his pocket, and pointed a gun to his temple.**

**Everyone else raised their weapons. Beth and Daryl stayed back-to-back. Beth suddenly spotted somebody wearing a parka. Maggie's parka. She sucked in a deep breath and whispered to Daryl, "Someone is wearing Maggie's parka over there." Daryl cursed.**

**Beth could hear Rick and Alex talking to the side of her as she stayed alert in front of her. "Where'd you get this watch?" Rick said. "I- I found it off a dead one." Alex replied. Everybody could hear the lie in his voice. "What about the riot gear? And the poncho?" Gareth's voice could be heard behind them. Rick whipped around to face him.**

** "****Found the gear off a dead cop. The poncho on a clothesline." Daryl noticed that he sounded calm. Too calm. Alex was pleading with Gareth. "Gareth, please." "Shut up, Alex. It's okay." He raised his hand up in front of them. The group tensed. "What do you want, Rick?" "Where are our people?" He didn't hesitate to ask. "You didn't answer the question." Then he closed his hand and the chaos started.**

**Rick pulled the trigger on the man and spun around to fight the rest of them off. When the group was unsuccessful, they ran off the opposite direction. As they ran by bullets hit the ground around their feet. As Daryl sprinted alongside Beth, he was suspicious about that. It was almost as if they were leading them somewhere. **

**As the ran down another alley, cries were heard. "Help!" They screamed. The they ran into another room. Candles were al over the place, and there was writing on the wall. The group stopped. "These people. I don't think they're trying to kill us," Michonne said. "No," Rick confirmed. "They were aiming at our feet." **

**They hear footsteps and shouts come from outside, so they ran towards an open door. It slammed shut. They were stuck.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As soon as Beth saw the open door, she raced to it before it slammed on them again. They ran out of the building and into another alley, then into a bigger are. They were trapped in between the fence and the buildings. There was no way out of this. Beth loaded her crossbow and was ready to fire when she saw dozens of barrels of guns stick out if the fences.

"Put your weapons down!" Gareth's voice boomed around them. The group all glanced at each other, then slowly dropped their weapons in the concrete. There were snipers on the roof, too. Beth shifted so she was closer to Daryl, and he also moved a bit closer to her.

"Ring leader! Go to your left and stand in front of the train car!" And sure enough, next to them was a red train car with the letter A painted on the side facing them. "Now the archer!" Beth gave Daryl a panicked look as he turned around and walked away in the direction Rick went in.

"The _teenage _archer, now!" Beth almost sighed in relief, but she remained tense as she slowly made her way to the train car, also. As Gareth called off Michonne, Beth stood in line behind Daryl. She felt insecure without any weapons on her.

She snapped to attention so quickly, she was certain she was going to topple over. She'd forgotten about the knife in her back pocket, now feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds. She kept her face normal, though, careful not to give anything away.

"Stand in line in this order: ring leader, archer, Blondie, samurai. Ring leader, open the door and walk inside. Everyone else follow him in." Beth's scraped up hands balled into fists at the name Blondie, but she knew that if she tried to do anything, the only outcome would be lead in her brain. Rick hesitated.

"My son!" He yelled. Daryl felt sympathy towards Rick. He knew that Rick didn't want to be separated from Carl again_._ "Go, kid." Gareth said to Carl. He tentatively started the journey towards the rest of his group members. Rick talked again. "I'll go in with him." "Don't make us kill him now!" Gareth shouted back.

A shudder ran down Beth's back as she remembered what the Governor had done to her dad. She didn't want anyone else to experience anything close to that. Rick slid open the door of the train red train car and slowly stepped inside. Everyone else followed until Carl was the last one inside.

Beth felt somebody grab her wrist. She jumped and spun around to face Daryl. "Ya' alright?" She was breathing heavily and her body was aching more than ever, but she was fine. "I'm still alive, aren't I?" She answered. Then she did something that surprised the both of them

Beth reached up and flung her arms around Daryl's neck, putting her forehead on his shoulder, standing on her toes. He went stiff for a second. He wasn't used to anything like this. Daryl and Merle had never hugged like this, so it's not like he was skilled in this department.

After a while, he finally hugged her back in a sort of awkward position. He put one hand on her shoulder and one on her back, but didn't draw her any closer or farther away. "I'm really worried about Maggie now." Beth voiced. It was muffled again Daryl's shoulder. "She can take care of herself. I've seen it." Beth nodded, but said nothing.

"Rick?" They heard from the other end of the car. Beth and Daryl slowly stepped away from each other. Who they saw made Beth want to cry of relief. It was Glenn. "You're here," Rick answered. More people stepped out of the shadows, and Daryl realized just how dark the area was. You could barely see anything.

Beth felt hope when she saw Glenn. She wanted to ask if Maggie was here. That would be one question answered. And when she saw Maggie step forward, she didn't hesitate to step forward and wrap her arms around her and squeeze her in a tight hug. "Oh, my God, Beth. You're here, too?" Maggie asked. Beth nodded her head against her sister's shoulder.

They pulled away and gripped each other's hands as they looked at Rick again. Daryl was glad that Beth had found her sister. he was very happy for her. He knew how much Beth had missed her sister. "They're gonna feel really stupid when they find out," Rick said. Abraham, a new member of the group that Glenn had been with, asked, "Find out what?" Daryl and Beth both knew what he was going to say. It was true. "They're screwing with the wrong people.

**A/N: I have a question for all ma readers! Would you guys like it better if I uploaded new chapter every day, or every other day, but longer and more detailed chapters? Please let me know in the reviews, PM me, follow, favorite this story. I would really appreciate it! Please, check out my other story too, called Walking On Hot Coals! If you already follow/favorite that story, I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAYS! I'm working on the other chapter right now and it will be up either sometime tonight or tomorrow as soon as I wake up. I'm very sorry that I haven't** **uploaded the chapter yesterday or today so far, but you will have a chapter soon, I promise! Thx for reading! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Beth and Maggie constantly stayed by each other's sides. They didn't let each other out of their sights. Nobody was really thinking of a plan, so at some time of the day right after they all had to split a loaf of bread, Daryl had enough of the moping around.

"We gotta do somethin'." He spoke up. He stood up out of his crouched position and started pacing. "I think that it's pretty clear we need to do something, but what are we gonna do, Daryl?" Rick asked. Daryl turns to face Rick. "We gotta do _somethin'." _Daryl repeated. He felt suffocated in the small area. He and everybody else knew that it wasn't safe here, and it wasn't going to get safe, either.

Beth felt the same, but she didn't want to voice her thoughts. She was with Maggie and they were both okay. That could change, even if they stayed here or if they didn't. She just wanted to stay with her sister as long as she could. Even if they were being held somewhere against their will. She would be anywhere with her sister as long as they were safe.

She felt the same with Daryl. Beth had grown a bit attached to him ever since they had escaped the prison together and were traveling together. She occasionally would glance at him in the darkness, and vice versa. They both cared for each other and wanted to protect each other.

When it was Beth's turn to keep watch on the outside, she squeezed Maggie's hand then slowly stood up, her aching muscles protesting, and she walked over to the door to look out the crack. She almost screamed in pain when she slammed against the door, almost falling over.

Daryl's head jerked up in her direction and he noticed the pain painted on her face and how her fists were clenched. He stood up and slowly walked over to her. "What's wrong," he asked her. He was clearly concerned for Beth. She glanced at him and decided to tell the truth. "I guess that night with Joe's group is just catching up to me. I'll be fine." The last part sounded strained.

Daryl scoffed to himself and shook his head. It was my fault that yer' hurt. I didn't do nothin' when those guys attacked me." Beth looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "You couldn't help it. And I couldn't stand there being useless while my friends were getting beaten to death." The thought made Beth shudder. She would be dead by now if it weren't for them.

"Well, that was obviously the wrong choice 'cause yer' more hurt than we are." He motioned to Michonne, Rick, and Carl. "That's because I'm the weakest. All of you guys can take care of yourselves." Daryl shook his head. "That ain't true, and ya' know it." Beth fully turned around to face him. "Yes, it is. Stop lyin'." She turned back to the crack in the door, without really paying attention.

As soon as she heard Daryl's shuffling footsteps walking away behind her, she let out a long and shaky breath and focused on what was in front of her. And she saw someone walking towards the train car with a huge knife.

Beth's eyes widened as she turned around to look at the rest of the group. "Someone's coming." Every head snapped up to the blonde before they sat down from their pacing or conversations. Beth still felt the small pocket knife in her back pocket as she sat down next to Maggie again, gripping her hand.

The metal door slipped open and Daryl could see the glint of the sun on the silver blade the man was holding as he stepped inside of the train car. The man scanned the crowd, looking for a vulnerable survivor. His eyes fell on Beth who was tapping her foot again the wooden floor. He pointed to her. "You- come with me."

Beth's heart started racing as she squeezed Maggie's hand and slowly stood. Sweat was dripping from her forehead and she was frightened. Frightened of the knife that man was holding and what it would do to her.

Daryl wanted to stand and hold Beth back. He wanted to give himself to the man instead of letting him take her, but it would just kill both of them quicker. The man gripped Beth's arm so hard that she whimpered and he dragged her out of the red car, separating her from her family and dragging her closer to her possible death.

**A/N: Still wanting you guy to leave your opinions on the upload frequency in the reviews! Luv you guys! Thx for reading! Review, PM me, favorite, follow, and read my other story called Walking On Hot Coals! Thx! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Beth unwillingly followed the man to the location he was dragging her. She heard bangs on the train car door as she walked away. Daryl threw himself at the door as soon as it closed behind the two exiting. He uselessly tried to open it, but it was locked shut.

He slid down the door and pressed his back up against the wall. He needed Beth back. Physically and emotionally _needed _her. He knew that they had to get out of there and leave. Daryl didn't want them taking anyone else. It would just make it even more difficult to get two people back.

Glenn grabbed Maggie and held her close to him as she greived the loss of Beth- again. They had just reunited. Beth currently felt the same way. The man had dragged her into an old warehouse and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't know when she would ever see her accomplices again, if she could ever get out of the place.

After the man had taken her to the big brick building, he slammed the door behind her. She wanted to pull out her knife, but she didn't know if that would be smart if multiple people came in the room. So she settled with hiding behind a desk that had been tilted sideways. She hoped that maybe they would think she left and they would go to find her.

But, three men came marching through the door right before she crouch behind the desk. She stopped in her tracks, defeated, and turned to the men. She recognized one as Gareth, but the other two of them were unrecognizable.

"What do you want?" Beth demanded. "To talk," Gareth replied, stepping forward. Beth took two steps back. She wanted to get through this "talk" alive, and that meant she needed to be smart and prepared.

"Go ahead, then. Talk. I'm listenin." Beth countered back at Gareth. Gareth sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. Suddenly, the other two men stepped forward. One of them had a big long knife, and the other one had a golf club.

Beth's heart sped up quickly as she backed away. One man quickly maneuvered around her and grabbed her arm to twist it back. Beth's mouth opened in a silent scream. The other man kicked her in the gut and pressed the knife against her throat. She screamed when she took the blow in the gut.

Gareth slowly walked up to them and leaned down in Beth's panting face. "If you start to talk about trying to escape again, this will happen to two more people." Beth just nods. She doesn't have any strength to say anything.

When the men release her, she falls to the ground, exhausted and limp. Gareth grabs her arm and jerks her up to escort her back to the train car. He throws her inside when they get in and she slams against the wood planks on the ground.

Daryl and Maggie rush to her side. Beth's whole body aches from the previous attack _and _from Joe's group. Tears run down her face and drip onto the wood beneath her. "Oh, my God, Bethy." Beth almost laughs and Maggie's old nickname.

Daryl's concern is written all over his face. He was grateful that he got her back, but he wanted to hurt someone for the condition she was in. They gently helped her up against the wall as she coughed. She passed out right away on Daryl's shoulder.

Daryl stayed right next to her for the whole night as the group anxiously waited for the next attack.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Bob came up to Beth at some point. She was finally awake after a while and Bob had had medical training before. Beth had barely moved that day, but she was getting better. After Bob had looked her over, he told her what was wrong.

"You have a few broken ribs, many bruises, and fractured ankle." Beth nodded. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, but it's not like it was good news. Maggie had stayed by Beth's side all day and there were no more signs of anybody coming and taking any more people inside of the railroad car. It was quiet inside.

Beth tried to stay out of everyone's way, but they were constantly coming up to her and asking her if they were okay. She also saw occasional glances from the new members of the crew. She had changed, though. Daryl had changed her. The prison had changed her. And she wasn't a little girl anymore.

Daryl also stayed with her most of the time. When he wasn't with her, he was talking with Rick in a hushed voice about what they were going to do. Beth had told them about what Gareth said, so they knew they couldn't talk about it as much. They still had small conversations about it.

When Beth could finally stand up, Maggie was automatically by her side. "Bethy, what are you doin'?" Beth grit her teeth. She was really getting sick of the treatment she was getting. She was a part of this group and she wanted to do something to help.

Maggie grabbed Beth's arm when she stood up and leaned against the wall. Beth shrugged her off. "Bethy, you need to rest. Sit down," Maggie told her. Beth faced Maggie, now extremely agitated. "I'm fine! I'm not sitting there anymore." Maggie stepped back, a bit shocked.

Beth felt Daryl's curious gaze on her back as she walked over to the door to look out in the crack. Her body ached, but she was used to it by now. Daryl was watching her intently. He wanted to see if she really could be fine on her own. But he knew the answer. She always could. And he was glad that she realized it, too.

Beth looked out through the crack in the door and saw the same man coming this way. She had to squint in the dark to see him. It was around midnight and most people were asleep. Beth tore her eyes away and willed herself to be strong. Daryl immediately saw her unease and knew what was going on.

He came up to her and gently grabbed her arm. "Come on, let's sit and see what happens." She nods and lets her take him to a dark corner. She hoped the man wouldn't see them there. "I'm not going to let them take you and beat ya' again. Okay?" Beth nodded at him and took a deep breath just as the metal door slid open.

The man stepped inside right away and his eyes landed on Daryl. He pointed at him and motioned with his finger for him to follow. Beth glanced at Daryl, panicked. He gave her a reassuring look before standing and joining the man. With one last glance over his shoulder, he exited the train car beside the man.

As soon as Daryl stepped out, they wrapped ropes around his hands. Beth sat in the exact same spot, shocked. She wanted Daryl back. She didn't want them to do to Daryl what they did to her. Or worse. But, they said two people when they "talked" to her. Why didn't they take someone else?

Daryl silently traveled behind the man as he led him through many alleys and streets. No one was out because of the lateness of the night. They were all asleep. Daryl studied the area as much as he could. If they were getting out of there, he wanted to know where they would escape.

Finally, they came to a stop. It was in the same area where Alex had taken them. His body was gone, but there was a big blotch of red on the concrete that didn't go unnoticed. Many other men were there surrounding him. One of them, Gareth, stepped forward. Daryl noted that he was sort of like the leader here. Or one of them.

"We want to make you a deal. We need more strong protectors here. Too many walkers have been getting in and getting up against the fences. We need someone to… put them down and stay on watch." Daryl snorted. Of course he wasn't going to help them.

Gareth held up a hand to stop him from saying anything. "If you stay here, we'll let the rest of your group go. But, we have to make sure they won't come back, so we'll need to drop them off somewhere so that they can't find their way back here. And if you refuse, your whole group will have to stay here in that train car for the rest of their lives, which won't last much longer."

Gareth had a point. Everyone was starving in there. They would die of starvation soon. The choice was obvious. But Daryl also wanted something else. It was fairly small. "Okay," he grunted. "I'll help." Gareth gave him a stretched smile. "But," Daryl continued. "Only if one person from my group could stay here with me."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The men nervously glanced at each other. This wasn't part of the plan at all. They had just wanted Daryl there. Gareth sent sharp looks to the other guys before turning back to Daryl, who was getting impatient. "That depends," Gareth hesitantly explained, folding his arms over his chest. "On what?" Daryl grunted.

"Which one your friends were you planning on letting stay?" Gareth asked. "Beth. The blonde," Daryl answered. "You know, the one you beat the crap out of the other day?" Anger flooded the rest of his emotions as Daryl remembered Beth falling into the red railroad car, not sure if she was dead or alive. His heart had practically stopped then.

Gareth took his one request into consideration. The tight ropes were starting to ache on his wrists. After a moment's decision, Gareth nodded. "Alright. Fine. But if either one of you tries anything dumb, you'll get lead between your eyes before you can even process what's happening."

Daryl didn't respond. He was escorted back to the train car where everyone was waiting before they removed the ropes. The group would leave tomorrow morning, Gareth had decided. Daryl and Beth would move into a building later that day.

As soon as the unnamed man slid open the door and slammed it shut after Daryl walked in, arms wrapped around his neck and a small body was hugging him. He waited a while until he hugged the blonde back. He frowned at how skinny she had gotten over time. She was getting stronger, though, and building muscle over time.

As soon as Beth backed off, she asked him if he was alright. "Yeah, I'm fine." He noticed everyone was awake now as he looked around the train car. He spotted Rick walking up to him after finishing a conversation with Carl. He looked older than he was with bags under his eyes and his hair turning gray.

Daryl looked between Rick and Beth before focusing his attention on the man in front of him. "I gotta talk to ya'. Things are about to change." Daryl told Rick. Rick nodded and became alert before stepping away so they could talk. Daryl glanced at Beth who was still beside him. "I also need to talk to you after Rick." Beth nodded before going to the crack in the door.

Rick and Daryl stepped off to the side so Daryl could tell Rick about way was going to happen. After he was done explaining, Rick shook his head in disbelief. "Are you sure you and Beth can't somehow come with us?" Daryl shook his head immediately. "I'm positive. There's no way they would ever let that happen."

Rick sighed. "We're definitely going to miss you both." Daryl felt a bit of annoyance in him. He wasn't good with goodbyes. After a few more words, he turned back to Beth who was still by the door. He didn't cut it short.

"They made me make a deal. I stay here and help them and the group leaves, or I refuse and we starve in here." Beth's heart sank in her stomach and her eyes went wide. She didn't want to lose Daryl. They were almost separated once, and she didn't want them apart again.

"But," Daryl continued. "I asked if you could stay here with me and be safe. You know, have an actual sanctuary. They said yes. So, we'll be stuck here." Beth's head pounded with anxiety. She would have to leave her sister again. But at least she would have Daryl.

Maggie didn't even look for her when they separated. She would be fine with Glenn, Beth decided. She kept telling herself that over and over again, then eventually nodded. "Okay. Alright." Daryl narrowed her eyes at her as if analyzing her. He knew something was wrong, but didn't question it as the two both faced the rest of their friends, preparing themselves for maybe their last goodbyes.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Beth and Maggie spent the rest of their time together. When it was morning, they were ready to depart. This time, it was Gareth who came in and collected them from the train car. He brought them all to the front door and to a big van. The only ones he didn't put in handcuffs were the two that were staying.

Beth hugged many people. Carl, Glenn, even Rick. But she practically squeezed the life out of Maggie. Maggie embraced her just as tight. "I'm gonna miss you, beth. You've gotten so strong." Tears were streaming down Beth's cheeks as she replied, "I know." They held each other for a few more minutes before Gareth cleared his throat and they separated.

The rest of the gang piled into the back of an old moving truck and Beth stepped back to stand next to Daryl. She tried to hold it in, but she let out a sob. Daryl had told Rick goodbye and gave him a promise that they would have to meet up sometime again as soon as Daryl and Beth figured out what was going on at Terminus.

Daryl reached for Beth's hand and squeezed her palm as the truck drove off. The other man that Beth and Daryl hadn't seen before brought them back into the fences and started on the tour of Terminus. He brought them to the "town square" of the place. It was also where Alex had been killed and where they had taken Daryl the night before.

"This is the main place. Where all of the gatherings take place. We report here about an hour after dawn every morning to get to work." The man says. "I'm Vince, by the way." Vince had shaggy brown hair and beard that was barely there. He reached his hand out to the two, who hesitantly shook it. "No reason to be nervous here. You'll adapt pretty quickly." Beth and Daryl glanced uneasily at each other as the man led them down a different street.

There weren't very many people around due to the fogginess of the morning. "Where is everyone?" Beth asked Vince. He looked back at her as he walked. "It's their day off. The only people that work every day are the people who work on watch." Daryl would be working all day. Beth wondered what she would do.

"What job will I be doing," she asked. She didn't want to be on her own here. "You'll be helping with the fences, too." She sighed. She would still get to be around Daryl and not on her own with these people. Vince stopped in front of a glass building. "This is the greenhouse," he said. Beth smiled. She made a mental note to remember the location of the place. She would be going there often because of the peaceful look of it.

After they left the greenhouse, Vince showed them their living quarters. They would be sharing a two-bedroom apartment with a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It was better than any other place that they've ever stayed at, but it was also the least safest. There was a door that connected their rooms to each other that they were grateful for in case something happened and they had to go help each other.

"There's gonna be a BBQ tonight in the square. Y'all are invited," Vince said with a smile as he left. "Thanks," Beth told him before he closed the door. Her smile wiped right off of her face as she ran a hand through her hair and turned towards Daryl, who was scanning the place with narrowed eyes. Neither one of them believed that it was actually safe.

"Should we go," Beth asked, touring the living room. A brown couch was pressed against the wall and a nightstand was next to it. There were some cracks in the walls and the couc was beat up, but it was better than the prison. But there weren't kidnappers in the prison. "Yeah," Daryl replied. "Find out more stuff about this place." Beth nodded and stepped into the bedroom Vince pointed out as hers.

When she walked in, the wood beneath her feet creaked and so did the door and she slowly opened it. Inside was a closet filled with clothes. Jackets, tank tops, T-shirts, jeans, basically everything besides dresses and skirts, which was absolutely fine with Beth. She was grateful for even getting clothes at all.

Daryl also had a wardrobe in his room. It was stacked with clothes that was his style. There weren't any suits or ties. Not even sweatpants. Not that he would wear them. Then it clicked. This wardrobe was almost _designed _for him. And so was Beth's for her. Daryl hurriedly checked through all of the pockets of the clothes and had made a mess of his room when Beth knocked on the door.

She slowly went inside of the cluttered area, now dressed in a lather brown jacket, a black tank top, and skinny blue jeans. Her eyes went wide at the clothes scattered across the flood. "What the heck happened in here?" She asked Daryl.

He was sitting on his kness in front of the full size bed in the middle of the room. He was massaging his temples as he sighed. "They _know _that we're going to wear these clothes. That's why they especially picked them out. So we would wear them." Beth nodded as she got the memo. "So, what, you think they put something in our clothes so we would go around all day with it? I doubt it," she said folding her arms.

Daryl shrugged. "Well, I couldn't find anything wrong with them, so they should be safe." Beth scoffed. "They're _clothes_. Of course they're safe," she said as she bent down to help Daryl clean up the mess. After they cleaned, they exited the apartment to go outside. It was getting colder. It was almost winter.

Gareth spotted them walking out of the apartment, and he rushed toward them. He was holding their crossbows and Beth's pocket knife. They had given back the rest of the gang's weapons after they left, but Beth and Daryl just now saw their weapons.

Beth clutched her crossbow in her hand. She'd missed it. And she didn't feel completely defenseless without it. After she slipped the knife back into the holster, Gareth spoke up. "We need you to start watch now." He pulled out two pistols from behind him and handed them both one. They were fully loaded.

"Only shoot if absolutely needed." Gareth sternly told them. Beth nodded and Daryl continued examine his crossbow. Gareth led them to wear they would be watching, and they climbed on a row of dumpsters that had been set up to be able to see into the woods over the fence.

When Gareth walked off, Beth and Daryl turned their attention to the forest. They reloaded their crossbows and put them at their side. They squinted as the sun went in their eyes and another man joined them on the row of garbage bins. He immediately smiled at Beth as he went up next to her.

"What's your name, little lady?" He asked, with a southern drawl. She reluctantly smiled back at him. "Beth." Then her smile disappeared as she looked ahead again. "I'm Jackson. But you can call me whatever you want." Daryl stepped beside Beth then, and spoke up. "Hey. Leave the girl alone." Beth cleared her throat. She could speak for herself. So she did. "How about douchebag? I think that name suits you." She said with a sneer then turned back to the woods.

Jackson stayed silent. Daryl was proud of Beth. She really was getting stronger. He didn't think he would be the last man standing. He thought Beth had the strength to be the last one.

**A/N: I know! This chapter is longer than the ones I've been posting! I just wanted to upload this longer chapter because WE GOT 10,000 VIEWS! WOOHOO! Thx so much to all that's supported this story and reviewed and favorite and followed it! THX! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Warning: A bit of gore later on in the chapter.**

Chapter 16

Later that night, Beth and Daryl make their way into the town square to the BBQ. A fire pit is set up in the middle of it with fire already burning inside. No one was there. The duo had just gotten done with watch, so they still had their crossbows in hand.

Beth clutched hers tightly in her palm as her mind worked like a train of thoughts. What if this was a trap? What if people were going to come out somewhere and murder them? The thoughts make her reload her crossbow with a bolt and look uneasily at Daryl. he had his eyes narrowed and was scanning the area. It was hard to tell what was behind the shadows of the buildings due to the darkness of the night.

Then suddenly, a barrel was pressed against Beth's temple. She froze and was pulled against someone's chest with an arm around her shoulders. Daryl spun around to face the attacker and automatically aimed his crossbow in between the eyebrows of the woman.

Her brown hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and her mouth was next to Beth's ear as she started to drag her backwards. Daryl went along with them. The only sounds that were in the air was Beth's strangled breaths. She scratched and scratched the woman's arm, but she didn't let go. "What is this?" Daryl asked. His finger was just above the trigger when the woman made a sudden jerk of her head and someone attacked Daryl.

Beth yelled his name, but her mouth got covered by a hand. Her screams and shouts were muffled as she got dragged away faster. Daryl fought the man. He delivered a punch to Daryl's jaw first, then Daryl struck back with a kick to the shin. The man fell to the ground before Daryl quickly pulled up his crossbow to put a bolt through his head. When he looked up, Beth was gone.

"Beth!" he yelled, and started off in the direction of where he saw the woman dragging her. His eyes widened in horror when he saw a small blotch of blood that started trailing into a building. He didn't know if it was fresh or a stain, and he didn't have time to find out.

He followed the blood trail until he got into an illuminated area. Then he saw her on the floor. Dead. The woman lied across the ground with a huge dent in her skull. Beth only had a gash on her leg. It was nothing compared to what the woman's damage was. The lady had red marks all over her face, and scratches covered her arms.

Daryl looked up at Beth, who was clutching a big, blood covered, rock in her hand. Tears were streaming down her face as she dropped the rock and stared blank-faced at the figure on the ground. Then her eyes lifted and there were words all over the wall. _We' are not alone. You will die. You will suffer. _

Daryl stepped around the woman and went over to Beth. He grabbed her face in his hands as he looked for any damage on her face. Beth's watery eyes met Daryl's stern ones. "We need to go." Beth nodded. He was right. They would no doubt get kicked out if somebody found the two bodies. Before they left, Daryl grabbed a red sheet off of a table to place over the woman's body. But, he didn't look back at the table. And the sheet was white.

Daryl dropped it as soon as he felt the liquid on his hands. Beth screamed when she saw what was on the table, and her scream turned into a sob. On the table was a body. It's stomach was brutally ripped open and guts were hanging out of it. A red X was scratched and imprinted across his mouth. It wasn't like it mattered, anyway. The guy was dead.

Daryl felt bile rise in his throat before he noticed that there was no insertion in its skull. He would have to put it down. He walked over to Beth who was holding her crossbow which had been lying across the floor. He lifted it up and aimed, then turned his head away. Beth looked away, too.

After the blot was stuck in its head, they left. Leaving everything the exact same way. Daryl picked up his crossbow next to the man that he killed. They slowly walked back to their apartment, taking in that they were never safe. Especially not here. And they had a feeling that there were more of those people going after them.

They really didn't want to be the next ripped open body lying on a table. Daryl put his arm around Beth's shoulders as they walked, keeping her close to him. Tear kept streaming down her cheeks and her eyes were still tear-stained when she woke up the next morning.

**A/N: So, we pretty much know that the people at Terminus are a bunch of wackos, right? Except for a few. Also, who knows what Vince from the last chapter was inspired by? I'll give ya a hint: If you play the game and played the knew episode or DLC, you probably know. Whoever guesses the right answer first in the reviews gets the next chapter dedicated to them! Thx for reading! Review, favorite, follow this story, and check out my new Bethyl community! Thx!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Beth woke up screaming. Her throat ached and her head hurt as she flew up off her pillow screaming at the top of her lungs about something that wasn't there. Daryl came rushing in with his crossbow raised just when she stopped.

"What's wrong?" He asked, still alert in the small room. It was about an hour before dawn, so they still had a while before their watch started. Daryl was still in his clothes and Beth had changed into a black tank top and sweatpants.

Beth let out an exasperated sigh. "It was just a dream. Just a dream." She said it more like she was trying to convince herself. Daryl lowered his crossbow when he looked at Beth's stricken face. Her breaths were gulps of air and sweat ran across her forehead and down her temples.

Her wide eyes looked back at Daryl as she was about to tell him she was okay. But she wasn't. "It was horrible." Her voice was strained and shaky as her mind thought back to the events in the nightmare. Daryl sat down at the end of the bed, looking at Beth.

_"Run! Beth! Run!" Daryl's voice was muffled when she heard his yells. Her feet were stuck under her as Gareth stalked towards her. She was completely defenseless in the empty warehouse. Daryl was being held against the wall by Jackson, the teenager they had met on watch._

_"Daryl!" Beth screamed. She tried to run. When she felt she finally got loose from the bubble she was stuck in, Gareth grabbed her arm and yanked her back to him. He slammed her body to the ground as her nose hit the concrete. Her foot twisted. She screamed out in pain when she heard the crack and felt the agony._

_"Beth! No!" Daryl's voice came from beside her. She blinked, then she was suddenly on a table with her wrists and ankles tied down. Beth craned her neck to look beside her and she saw another table. Her eyes widened in horror and shock as she saw what was on it._

_Daryl's stomach was ripped open and snarls were escaping his mouth. His eyes were white and blank as he yanked the ropes off and sat up. He flopped off the table as Beth struggled and struggled to get free. But she couldn't. The last thing that happened before she woke up, was Daryl's teeth sinking into her neck as she screamed._

Back into the present, tears were rolling down Beth's cheeks as a sob escaped her mouth. Daryl sat patiently listening to Beth finish retelling the dream. She did something surprising next. She reached across the bed and wrapped her arm around Daryl, sobbing into his neck while they embraced.

Daryl hugged her back, and he didn't feel awkward, which was his natural feeling when it came to emotions like these. He wanted to comfort her as much as he could. "I ain't goin' nowhere." He told her. She nodded as she sniffled and leaned back. "Thanks for letting me get that out," she told him, wiping her palms against her cheeks. He replied, "No big deal."

She lied back as Daryl stood to go back to his room. Before he closed the door, Beth quietly told him, "Goodnight." And he responded with a simple, "Night."

As soon as Daryl saw Vince the next morning in the square, he delivered a straight punch to his jaw. Gasps were heard all around as Vince fell to the ground, holding his jaw. Daryl stepped back and wrung out his hand as Beth stepped forward and in front of Daryl. She didn't want him to get in a fight with anyone here.

Nobody really said anything as Vince slowly stood up, checking his hand for any blood that was over his jaw. "What'd you do that for?" he asked Daryl. Daryl just replied, "We'll talk later, boy." Vince's eyebrows furrowed as Daryl and Beth walked away towards the row of garbage bins that they do their watch on.

After a while of standing up there and nothing happening, Beth spotted bushes moving in front of her. She readied her crossbow as more rustling was heard. Her finger was right over the trigger, ready to shoot whatever animal came out. But no animal did come out. Beth lifted her head in surprise as she locked eyes with the figure in front of her. Tyreese.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Beth gasped. On Tyreese's back was Judith. She felt a swell of hope in her chest as her little head popped up from the bushes, too. Behind them was Carol. "Daryl." Beth said. It was only above a whisper, so he didn't hear her. She cleared her throat and kept her eyes on the trio approaching the gates. "Daryl!" Beth practically shouted. She looked over at where Jackson was. Good. He didn't hear her.

Daryl rushed to Beth's side to see what was wrong. She nodded to where in the woods Carol, Tyreese, and Judith were. Daryl cursed. The two were happy that their friends were alright, but they didn't want them going through the stuff that they were. Like almost getting brutally murdered. But, they weren't allowed to leave their watch station. Beth head snapped up as she thought of an idea. The trio was now moving to the back door, having the same idea her old group had.

"Jackson!" She called to him. His head snapped in her direction. "Hmm?" "I'm gonna take a quick bathroom break, okay?" She didn't wait for him to answer. She jumped down, keeping her crossbow with her, and mouthed an apology to Daryl behind her shoulder before starting off the run to the back door.

Her legs ached and her lungs burned, but she was determined to travel all the way down the building to meet them. When they finally came into view, they were just climbing over the fence. Beth quickened her pace to them just when Carol and Tyreese were on the other side of the fence. She slowed as they heard her footsteps coming towards them.

Their heads turned to the blonde figure racing towards them. Their face brightened as Beth stood in front of them, catching her breath. Carol embraced her first, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. Beth chuckled and wrapped her arms around her, too. "You're here. Is everyone else here?" Tyreese asked her after they had hugged.

Beth had finally caught her breath. "No. They were." She shakes her head at the horrible memories of the train car. "This place isn't what it seems. Daryl's here with me. They forced the other ones out and they made us stay here and help with the watches on the walls. It may be too late for you to go-" "Beth!" She cursed under her breath as she turned around at the sound of her name.

Vince ran up to the four, and Beth plastered on a fake smile. Vince may be the only nice one there, but that didn't mean he should be trusted. "These people just came in. Complete strangers." Beth explained. Vince gave her a skeptical look, then turned to the other three that looked dirty and tired. "Smart coming in through the back. I'm Vince. You came here for sanctuary?" They nodded. "Let me show you to the front." Vince waved his hand to have them follow behind him as he took them to the front.

Beth lagged behind, talking to Tyreese. "Act ignorant. Don't question what they're doing, or they'll do something… very bad." Beth warned. She stayed silent after she repeated what she said to Carol. "Beth, you should get back to your watch place." Beth froze after Vince's statement. If she refused, he would get suspicious. Then she nodded and said, "Alright." Then walked off after one last look back at the three.

When Beth approached the garbage bins for the second time that morning, Daryl spun around to start to question her. She climbed up on the objects. "Did they get in?" Daryl asked. Beth nodded. "I warned them. Vince is taking them to the front." Daryl sighed and rubbed his forehead. Jackson came up behind Beth.

"That was quite a bathroom break." He said with an eyebrow raised. "Girl problems. Don't wanna know." Boys usually shy away at that, Beth thought to herself. "You're right. I don't." Jackson walked away again to leave Beth and Daryl to talk.

"Do they know they're friends with us?" Daryl asked. Beth looked ahead and squinted from the sun's rays. "No. I told Vince they were strangers." "Good." "I also told Carol and Tyreese not to question stuff out loud and to act like they don't give a crap. Our group did the opposite and it didn't work very well.." Beth shuddered from the thought of them being thrown in the train car again. Daryl nodded and the two focused their attention back on the forest ahead of them.

After their watch, they automatically went to see Vince. When they saw him in the square, they started asking questions. "Hey! Vince." Beth called to him. He turned his was and they started walking towards each other. "Do you know where the three that arrived today went?" Beth asked politely. "Uh, yeah. They're with Gareth. Why do you ask?"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Daryl wanted to shout out tons of profanities. They were with Gareth, the killer. Beth and Daryl hoped that they wouldn't mention that they'd known each other. Gareth would probably throw them out of Terminus, or even worse, kill them.

"Could you maybe tell us where that would be?" Beth asked, impatient. She wanted to see her friends again. To see Judith. She wanted to hold the little baby that she would never have in this type of world. "Yeah, they're in the building next to yours." Daryl nodded at him and grabbed Beth's elbow to gently tug her along. She followed quickly next to him as they ran together, crossbows in hand.

When they reached the neighboring building, Daryl went up to the door and opened it with slight hesitation, with Beth right next to him. They heard voices when they stepped in. "-should feel very welcome." Gareth stopped talking to the three when Daryl and Beth walked in.

"We just wanted to welcome our new members." Beth lied. Gareth narrowed his eyes at her, but looked back at the Carol, Tyreese, and Judith. "Alright. They're Daryl and Beth." Beth almost sighed in relief. It was good that the trio didn't tell them that they were previously in a group together. "Beth, you've already met Carol and Tyreese. You met them when they entered here, didn't you?" Beth nodded.

"Okay. This is the only place I've gotten to show them. They'll be helping out in the greenhouse for a while." Gareth added before walking out. Daryl turned around and closed the door behind him. "What all happened? What did he tell you?" Beth asked. Tyreese handed Judith to Beth. He knew she would want to see her.

"They just asked us about our past. We didn't mention the group." Daryl nodded. "Good." Beth was smiling down at Judith now. Judith was cooing at Beth and was excited to see her. Daryl had a hint of a smile on his face at the two.

Carol turned her attention to Beth. "Can I have a word with you in private?" She asked her. Beth lifted her head up and furrowed her eyebrows before smiling, almost nervously. "Sure." Beth reluctantly handed Judith bac to Tyreese while the two men in the room caught back up with each other and talked more about the place.

Carol took Beth into one of the guest bedrooms with the window open and the daylight shining in the room. Beth casually leaned back against the wall and awkwardly shoved her hands in her pockets.

Beth and Carol didn't converse much at the prison- or at all. This was definitely a change for them both. Carol cut right to the chase. "Why are you still here?" The questioned shocked Beth. Her jaw was dropping down as she processed what Carol had just said.

It took her a few times to finally respond. "E- excuse me?" Beth asked. She was glad she left her crossbow out on the main room with Daryl. She didn't think it would be very wise to have it in here, especially with what Carol says next.

"You're just dragging everyone behind." Carol stated. Beth was shocked. She would've believed her any other time, like at the prison where she just hid behind the fences, but Beth had gotten so much stronger. Especially with Daryl. "No, I'm not." She was surprised that her voice didn't shake from the agitation she was starting to feel towards Carol.

"You're going to get everyone killed. At some point, we're going to leave and escape, and maybe it would be best if you didn't come with us." Carol snapped at her. Beth was taken aback. "No. I'm not staying here. I'm not weak anymore." Beth stated. Then she reached for the doorknob next to her to walk out of the door.

Carol gripped her wrist and gave her a smile that was nowhere near pleasant. "Think about it, sweetheart." She said. Beth jerked her wrist back and was still stumped by what Carol had said as she walked out. Tyreese handed Judith back to her while everyone talked, except Carol, who was glaring in Beth's direction, no doubt wanting her to be out of the picture. And Daryl noticed.

**A/N: Plz don't hate me! School just ended and my teachers piled on tons of projects and assignments, so I was very busy. But, now school is over and yay! I'm going to try to update a lot this summer, maybe even end this story? If you guys like it enough, maybe I'll do a sequel! I already have plans for the future of this, and I think you'll like it! If you follow along with my other stories, Adjusting and Walking On Hot Coals, expect an update before the end of Monday! I'm very sorry about the huge delay on WOHC (Walking On Hot Coals), but my co-writer has been too busy to finish the chapter. And yeah, I know, Carol's not really like this. It will go along with the future chapters, just be patient! Thx for reading! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**That night, as Beth and Daryl were taking the steps to their apartment, Daryl started asking questions. "What happened with you and Carol?" Daryl asked. Beth almost stopped in her tracks. "Nothing," she lied. But she knew she wouldn't get away with it. **

** "****Beth, Carol was glaring at ya' as if she wanted to stab ya' then. 'Course, I wouldn't let that happen, but she could've tried." Beth ignored the protectiveness of Daryl's words, but still felt the flutter in her chest that she always felt when he said something like that.**

**Beth glanced at Daryl when they came up to their apartment door. "It's really nothing," she tried. "Okay." Daryl shrugged as he opened the door and stepped through the threshold. "I'll just ask you again later." Beth still stood outside of the apartment as Daryl went into his room. A hint of a smile was still on her lips when she went to bed. **

**The next morning, Daryl woke up earlier than his watch time. After he went to check on the sound asleep Beth, he went downstairs and next door to talk to Carol. He was determined to figure out what Carol was planning. If she was planning anything.**

**He didn't bother knocking on the door; he swung it open and stepped right in. Nobody woke up. ****_How'd they survive this long, _****Daryl wondered. He quickly banished the thought right after he remembered that those were his friends he was talking bad about. **

**He stepped into the living room where there was a crib with Judith still and asleep inside. He smiled at how happy and excited Beth was to see her, then heard a voice from the other side of the room. "Daryl?" He heard. Daryl turned around to face Carol walking into the living room with a robe around her. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep. **

** "****Is something wrong?" she asked him, stepping up in front of him. She touched his arm gently and he automatically pulled back. "Yeah, somethin's wrong. Ya' got a problem with Beth er somethin'?" Her eyebrows furrowed in fake confusion. "Uh, no. Why?" "Don't lie to me." Daryl stated, his jaw firm and eyes narrowed. **

**Daryl stopped being good friends with her when he found out that Carol killed Karen and David, two fellow prisoner survivors. Carol shook her head. "Did Beth say that there was a problem?" She asked in a sweet voice. "No, but I saw ya' glaring right at her last night," he accused. **

**Tyreese stepped out of his room now. "What's goin' on?" He had changed into a clean white shirt and gray sweatpants. After one last glance at Carol, Daryl replied, "Nothin.'" Then left, almost slamming the door behind him.**

**When Daryl got up to his apartment, he was about to open the door when he ran right into a little blonde figure. She grunted and fell back a little, but Daryl grabbed her waist awkwardly to keep Beth from falling back into the room. He let go immediately, but still didn't manage to avoid the awkward tension.**

** "****Where were you?" Beth asked. Her voice echoed in the long hallway. "Talking to Carol and Tyreese. Beth… I gotta talk to ya.'" She raised her eyebrows. "Okay… sure." She said. Daryl guided her inside and she sat down on the couch. He sat next to her.**

** "****If Carol is threatening you or somethin' like that, ya' need to tell me." Daryl cut right to the chase. "I can take care of myself." Beth sat up straighter to prove her point. "I know ya' can, girl, but-" "Don't call me 'girl'." Beth insisted. The name made her feel weak and young. Two of the things she wasn't anymore.**

** "****Carol has killed people." Daryl blurted. Beth's eyes widened. A gasp came from her throat as she thought of Carol murdering anyone. "She killed and burned Karen and David." "How?" That was the only word Beth could say. Daryl shrugged. "I don't know. But, if Carol has a grudge against you for whatever reason, I wanna make sure that she doesn't kill you, too." **

**A/N: Yay! Two updates in two days! Plz review, favorite, follow, and all the other crap. I LOVE FEEDBACK! Thx for reading!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Beth sat in silence. She was suddenly a lot more scared of Carol, now that she's learned that the woman has killed -murdered-people. Daryl was still looking at her intently on the couch while she kept processing the situation, Beth looked up at Daryl again.

"What makes you think she's going to try to kill me?" she asked him. "Why did Carol kill Karen and David? Because they were threatening the group's safety." Beth stood up and faced Daryl. "How am I a threat?!" she almost shouted.

Daryl stood up, too. "I ain't sayin' ya' are. Maybe Carol still thinks that you're not as strong as are. She probably thinks that you still have the experience that you did back at the prison. She think you'll hold everyone back." Beth stopped in her tracks from pacing. She wanted to come clean.

"That's what she said to me. She told me that I was just holding back the group and that when we all left, I should stay here while you guys leave." Beth knew she couldn't be separated from Daryl. They had formed a bond now that was basically impossible to break. Daryl surprisingly grabbed Beth's face in his hands. "I'm not going to let her hurt you." Beth smiled at him. "I'm not either." she replied.

Daryl dropped his hands and had a hint of a smile on his mouth as he walked into his room. A few hours later, they went up to their watch station. Jackson wasn't there, which was surprising because he was usually very uptight with this stuff.

Every time Beth would turn around because of a noise, or someone calling someone's name, she expected to see Carol lurking behind her, ready to jump on her back and put a knife through her skull. Daryl was also looking around, expecting to see her.

When night fell, and their watch was over, the two both walked back to their apartment in silence, on high alert for anything. Beth thought they were being paranoid; if Carol came, she would be able to fight her. Yet, she was still a little frightened.

Beth fell asleep right as her head hit the pillow, despite the situation. She was always exhausted after a long day, especially with all of this stress piling up on her. Daryl found it harder to sleep, but he eventually drifted into a deep slumber.

In the middle of the night, a noise was heard in the living room. Beth quickly woke up and her eyes widened as another crash was heard. She quickly got out of bed and grabbed her crossbow, which is always right by her bed. Just in case.

Beth slowly walked out into the living room, her crossbow aimed in front of her. She found the string to the light bulb in the room. She tried to pull it, then she felt a hand go over her mouth and throw her crossbow across the room. Beth's muffled screams were heard around the living area. She was surprised that Daryl didn't hear when she shouted his name.

Beth roughly stomped on her attacker's foot and she heard a grunt as the hand over her mouth went limp. She sunk her teeth into it as hard as she could. A sharp intake of breath was heard behind her as she spun around. "Daryl!" she yelled. The attacker lunged at her in the darkness as she almost tripped on something.

"Daryl!" She tried again, just as he came racing out of his room, crossbow in hand. "Beth!" She threw a punch in front of her when she saw a shadow, and she felt her knuckles hit a jugular. The attacker stumbled back. Daryl tossed her figure the crossbow in the dark, and she almost dropped it before she aimed.

After the shadow in front of her was back up, Beth fired. She heard the arrow hit flesh, but the attacker was still up on his feet and coming towards them. She fired again and blood squirted on her tank top. The figure fell as Daryl turned the light on.

Beth was still panting as she stared down at the person who had attacked her. It was Jackson. An arrow stuck in his shoulder and neck. Memories from her dream days ago reappeared in her mind. Jackson had held Daryl back when Gareth was attacking Beth. She knew she couldn't trust him when she saw him. She knew now that he was working with the group that had tried to take her and Daryl before.

She remembered the bloody corpse lying on the metal table in the other warehouse about a week ago, hours after dark. There were still two threats out there; Carol, and the unknown group. And both wanted Beth dead.

**A/N: I just really wanted to upload this new chapter to see what you guys think. bet you guys thought that it was Carol attacking Beth, didn't you? Gimme feedback on it in the review box thingy! Please favorite, follow, and review this story! Thanks for everything, everyone who has taken the time to read this far in the story is AMAZING! I love the people the review and favorite and follow and each time I check and see that I got more feedback, I get a big smile on my face for the rest of the day. Thanks for reading! :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Plz read other A/N at the bottom. Very important!**

Chapter 22

Daryl and Beth slept in the same room last night. Daryl sat up against Beth's bed where her nightstand was, and Beth slept in her bed. Except, they didn't really sleep. It was still a couple hours before dawn, but neither one of them could sleep a wink. They had removed the body from their living room by tossing it out the window. It was the only option they'd had without other people hearing noises or seeing Jackson's lifeless body.

Beth knew Daryl was awake when she said his name. "Hmm?" he replied. "What… what did you first think of me when you met me?" Daryl froze. He had no clue how to answer this question. "Uh… I honestly thought you were one of them typical teenage girls." "That's what I thought you would say." He turned his head to face Beth, who had her eyes open and was staring right at the back of his head.

"Why do ya' say that?" Beth shrugged. "I don't know. It's what I think, or thought of myself." "Yer so much stronger now, Beth. As strong as I am. Yer not just another dead girl, Beth. You're not Maggie or Michonne, and yer sure as heck not Carol, but yer Beth. And yer strong and surviving." Beth had closed her eyes. It took her a few moments to answer. "Thanks," she whispered. He didn't reply; he just turned his head back around and leaned back to try to fall asleep.

When Beth awoke the next morning, it was already a few minutes past dawn. Daryl was turned sideways and had his temple against the mattress. She smiled in spite of herself. She had insisted that he go back to his room to sleep and that she would be fine, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Beth slowly stood and got changed on the other side of the bed, just in case Daryl woke up. Then she grabbed her crossbow, again, being cautious, and heard a knock on the door. Scampering footsteps followed after down the echoing hall. Beth raised her crossbow before walking over to the door. "Hello?" she said. There was no answer. She open the door a crack, then hastily raised the weapon.

On the other side of the door was a note hanging on it from tape holding it up. _Watch is cancelled for today, _it read. Beth smiled before closing the door, walking into their small kitchen. She jumped up onto the counter and looked around the room. She'd never spent a big amount of time in it. It had a gas stove, cabinets, and a faucet.

Beth heard shuffling feet walk into the living room. Daryl was awake. She jumped off of the counter and made her way into the other room where she saw Daryl was dressed and ready for watch. She smiled as she held out the paper to him. "What do ya' wanna do today?" Daryl shrugged. Find out more about these people. Suddenly, a huge explosion was heard.

The two glanced at each other with panicked expressions before racing out the door, weapons in hand. They ran out of the apartment building and followed where the black smoke was coming from. Yelling was heard as they got closer. Beth was abruptly pulled to the side. She sung her arm up to punch the attacker, then hesitated. It was just Vince. Daryl also stepped to the side to talk. "If you guys wanna leave, let's leave. Quickly." he said. The words surprised both Daryl and Beth. He'd wanted to leave, too?

With one last confirming glance at Daryl, Beth nodded. "Alright. Let's go." They took off in the opposite direction, where they had watch. They climbed up on the garbage bins and climbed over the fence. As soon as both him and Beth were out of Terminus, Daryl felt a heavy weight lift off of his shoulder.

Gunfire started to be heard as they ran far away from the place, into the woods. Daryl and Beth were reminded of after the prison, when it was just them and flaws. Now, they were both ten times stronger and smarter.

It took them a while to keep running before the gunfire stopped sounding. Obviously, something big was happening back at Terminus, and the three fleeing didn't want to be a part of it at all. Especially with that many enemies they were leaving behind.

**A/N: Plz review, favorite, follow this story! Also, plz read my new story which I just posted call Dead or Surviving! So, they're finally out of Terminus! Don't worry, the story isn't ending. I'm actually pretty freaking excited for what I have planned for the next few chapters. Also, I understand the complaint that I got about the characters portrayal of Carol and Beth. I'm not mad, don't worry. The review was saying that Carol was a lot more hostile than she is in the show. Here's what I have to say to that: be patient! Everything will be explained in the future. I totally understand where you're coming from, but give me time to explain why she is this hostile. We have no clue what she could have gone through on the journey to Terminus... But, I'm not giving any spoilers! Also, it said that Beth would not act like that either. Basically, Beth doesn't want to hurt Carol, but she would if she had to. She's gotten a lot stronger and I don't think I can express that any more than I have in the story. Thx for reading!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**They eventually stopped running to catch their breath. Daryl and Beth still didn't trust Vince, but he had given them a free trip out of hell, basically. Beth yearned for the baby that they'd left behind with Carol. She was fairly sure that Carol wouldn't hurt her, though. Not with Tyreese there. **

**The three survivors sat around a small fire in the ground. Beth remembered doing another fire similar to that when it was just her and Daryl. And it was before Terminus. Daryl spoke up first in the now dark night. **

** "****Was it you?" Vince looked up at him from across the small circle they'd built. "Was what me?" "Did you cause the explosion at… Terminus?" Beth finished. Vince raised an eyebrow. "No. I have no clue who it was." Beth's eyebrows went together in confusion. "Who did it, then? And why?"**

**A rustle in the bushes was heard right after Beth's rhetorical question. Daryl and Beth stood quickly, their weapons in hand. It took a while for Vince to see what was going on; he's spent most of his time at Terminus. **

**They heard a whine now. Like a dog. Beth, closest to the shrub, creeped closer with her crossbow already up. She looked through the scope on it, just in case. When she tossed a rock into the bush, there was a growl heard, then a small wolf leaped out of it and onto Beth. **

**Its jaw went right to her arm right as an arrow went through its skull and it rolled off of Beth. Vince sighed and Daryl helped Beth up off the ground. "Well, I guess we know what's for dinner tonight." Vince said. Daryl looked at him in disbelief. The wolf's ribs could be seen through its skin. It was starving to death. Many scratches and other bites were on it, making it not edible.**

** "****You can have that thing, but I ain't touchin' it." Daryl said.**

**Later that night, the temperature seemed to drop a hundred degrees. Beth was shivering in her leather jacket she had been wearing from Terminus. She was luckily wearing long sleeves under it, but it wasn't even close to enough.**

**Daryl and Beth slept incredibly close that night, for warmth, they told themselves. After a short while, though, it started to rain. Very hard. The new trio quickly gathered their supplies together at the first sign of the oncoming storm. After a few haste glances at each other, they started running again. It seemed as if that was all Daryl and Beth could do: run.**

**When the growls and snarls started up, that just made them run even harder. The walkers were slower than they were, but there were a lot more of the monsters. Beth tripped in the rain. It was almost impossible to see. A walker fell on her, and its jaw snapped in her face. Its hands grabbed at her arm until she felt a sharp pain.**

**Her eyes widened as a piercing scream tore from her throat. "Beth!' Daryl screamed. He shot a bolt into the walker's temple and it went limp on top of the girl. Daryl grabbed her hand and hauled her up off of the ground, basically dragging her behind him.**

**Vince was still by them. A gunshot sounded in the forest and Daryl and Beth looked to see him holding a pistol up to another walker. Another shot rang out. "You idiot!" Beth yelled at him. He was drawing more walkers that way, and they already had way more than they wanted around.**

**They started off running again. After a short time of traveling in the woods, Beth collapsed when they came to a clearing. She fell on her knees then rolled on her side, unconscious. Daryl muttered curse words under his breath. It definitely wasn't an option to leave her.**

**He scooped her up in his arms and ran in the direction that Vince had went. The rain had gotten a lot less harder and the sun was starting to come out. But the walkers were still chasing them. Daryl was just blindly following Vince now, and when they came up to a familiar place, Daryl stopped in his tracks and almost fell to his knees. **

**A/N: Hello! So, what's wrong with Beth? Was she just completely exhausted... or something else? Let me know what you think it is in the reviews and what the "familiar place" is. The next few chapters are gonna be really cool and sad and exciting, so prepare yourself. :) Please favorite, follow and review this story and check out my BRAND NEW ONE, Dead or Surviving. It's ANOTHER BETHYL STORY! It's basically telling what would happen if Joe's group actually kidnapped Beth instead of... whoever. Thanks for reading!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

What stood in front of them was the prison. Half of it was almost burned down or struck by the tank, but there were almost no walkers around. Daryl almost lost his grip on Beth, but quickly regained his composure. Beth slowly stirred in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck when she felt that she was lifted off of the ground.

Then she turned her head. Vince and Daryl were still looking at it in awe, but Beth felt shivers go down her spine when she saw the prison. She buried her head in Daryl's neck, to their surprise. She didn't want to look at the place and remember her father's murder. She thought about it every day, anyway.

Daryl tightened his grip on the blonde as they walked up to the damaged building. Daryl didn't bother to mention to Vince that this was once their home. When they came up to the gates on the ground, Daryl sat down Beth so they could individually walk around them. She felt a little dizzy, but she held herself up.

And that was when she noticed the scratches.

Beth almost scream when she saw the three long lines go across her forearm. They were pretty much unnoticeable, yet they were almost seeping blood. Her breath got caught in her throat and her head felt light. Before she knew it, she collapsed. The last thing she saw was Daryl rushing towards her, hoping to catch her before she fell.

Beth awoke with the sun shining in her eyes. She was lying in her bed at the prison. She almost wondered if all of the previous events were just a dream, that Maggie was still with her and her father was alive, but she was certain it wasn't when she saw the gaping hole through the wall.

Her room looked exactly the same as when she had left it. The lamp was still on the small fold-out table. All of the pictures and newspaper articles were hung on the wall. Her board was knocked down, though. The 6 of _6 days without an accident _was on its side.

Beth's arm badly ached, and when she looked at it, her eyes widened and her heartbeat sped up. She was scratched. And the worst part is, she didn't know if it was the wolf that scratched her or a walker. She had no clue if she was going to die or not.

When Beth heard shuffling feet, she slung her feet over to edge of the bed and looked at the door, expectant. She also noticed that in the corner next to her bed was her crossbow. Daryl appeared in the doorway a second later. She wanted to tell him about her arm immediately.

"How're ya doin'?" he asked, leaning against the wall. He remembered the last time he came in here a few months ago. It was to tell her that her boyfriend, Zach, had died. They'd both said that they were sick of people dying. It was still the same now.

Beth hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. I… I need to talk to you, though." Daryl's eyebrows furrowed as he stepped forward and sat on the bed next to her. She opened her mouth to speak, then just moved her arm for him to see. She held in a breath as she took in his expression.

His face went slack as he stared at her arm. "No," he whispered. Beth shrugged helplessly. "It could be the wolf's fault. Or a walker. I really can't tell." Daryl's jaw clenched and he looked at Beth. He gently grabbed her arm, despite his mood.

"No," he repeated. "I'm not lettin' this happen. It _has _to be the mutt." Daryl said. "There's not very much we can do, Daryl." Beth said. "Yeah, there is. There's gotta be." he said. He desperately didn't want another person he cared about to just drop. He wasn't going to let it happen again.

He looked back into her eyes. "We wait. If ya' get a fever, then we cut yer arm off. If ya' got no fever, it's just the wolf." Beth tensed at the words of one of her limbs getting cut off, but she nodded. She knew how Daryl was feeling. And she would be drastic like this if the situation was flipped, too.

**A/N: OH NO! What's gonna happen to Beth? And more of protective Daryl! This is the part of the story where I'm gonna start romancing it up a bit! So excited for this story! Honestly, I don't know how many chapter I'm gonna have left in this and I have no clue how I'm going to end it. If you guys wanna give me your ideas, feel free to do so! Please favorite, follow, and review this story! I LOVE FEEDBACK! Also, thank you to jadynca for your note in the story! I was kind of in a little bit of an "indecisive" time period there and I'm hoping to go back and edit soon, but I'm keeping the story past tense now because it just sorta fits in better. But, thanks for taking the time to tell me about it in the reviews! Thanks for reading! :)**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Beth and Daryl decided to get up and explore the place that they once called home. Vince had just seen the main area and the rest of the cells. He hadn't seen the other cell block, so they went that way first. They all sat down at the table together. Almost everything around them was ruined.

Beth and Daryl reached for their crossbows as soon as they heard the noise and footsteps. Vince reached for his pistol on his belt and turned the safety off. The three all lifted their weapons up as the footsteps got closer and stood back to back.

A voice filled the air as people came through the door of the other cell block. Beth almost dropped her crossbow when she saw who it was. Daryl and Beth lowered their weapons and smiled in disbelief. Vince didn't. He had no clue who the people were. So he pulled the trigger.

Daryl and Beth's eyes widened as Daryl tackled Vince from behind. Beth cried out and fell to her knees in front of her dead sister. Maggie lay on the ground, a bullet hole through her head. Everything was silent except for Beth's sobs in the air. She was the first one to come in the cell block. The rest of the group was behind her. Rick, Carl, Glenn…

Maggie's eyes are wide open. It looks as if she's staring at the ceiling. Daryl goes over to Beth and wraps his arms around her sobbing form. She violently shakes as she stares down at her dead sister. When she saw her walking in, she was ecstatic. Then Vince just had to pull the trigger.

Speaking of, Vince sits on his knees in the corner, uselessly stammering out apologies. Rick's jaw tenses as he stomps over to him and grabs his neck. Beth couldn't care less about what he did. She was numb, in fact.

Rick settles for throwing him in an empty cell. The rest of the group left Daryl and Beth, holding back tears of their own. Glenn also knelt down beside Maggie's lifeless body, heartbroken. Silent tears ran down his face as he let out quiet sobs next to Daryl and Beth.

It seemed as if Beth was never going to calm down. Daryl stayed right there beside her as she had her meltdown. Hours passed and Beth still let out dry sobs. Glenn hadn't left yet, either. He sat on the cold prison floor next to the two with his knees pulled up to his chest.

At some point, Rick and Abraham moved the body. Beth was now completely still. She was numb. She was barely even aware of Daryl's arms around her. At least one thing was confirmed; it was the dog that had scratched Beth.

When Daryl took Beth back to her cell, it was nighttime again. A blank expression was written on her face as she sat on the bed. Her face was ghastly pale. Daryl understood exactly how she felt. He'd had to kill his own brother when he'd turned into a walker.

"Beth," Daryl spoke. She looked over at him with her sad eyes. "I can't promise you that it'll get better. But, you'll make room for the pain." He still wasn't over his brother's death. Beth automatically recognized Daryl's words. Andrea had told her that exact same thing after her mom had died. She'd gone into some sort of a shock coma.

Beth nodded, then lied down. Daryl sat down by her head. He was also mourning Maggie. Everyone was. All of Beth's family was dead. Either by walker, or murdered. That was this world now. Beth still had her group. They were her family.

Especially Daryl. They had spent so much time together that they were practically inseparable. And Judith. That night, Beth had many nightmares about the event and Daryl woke her up every time she screamed and thrashed in her sleep. Neither of them got much sleep that night, but they were there for each other.

**A/N: ... I feel really hollow inside. The first major character death in the story! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR THIS! This chapter was AGONY to write and I was pretty much on the verge of tears the whole time. Anyway, please follow, favorite, and review this story... I'm still sad. Thanks for reading!**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Read other A/N at the bottom! Very important!**

Chapter 26

People went to visit Beth. She was happy to see them again, but she just wished that she hadn't seen all over her family die before her own very eyes. She would rather have them alive. Glenn was also a huge mess. He was a bit more talkative than Beth, but he was still depressed like her over the death of their beloved.

They still didn't know what to do with Vince. Kill him, or spare him? Daryl was a pretty big influence on the decision. He would talk about it with Rick and the rest of the group when he wasn't with Beth. He was always with her, by her side. Beth stopped crying after a while. She just sat there next to Daryl or whoever else was there, almost motionless.

Truth is, she was eating herself up over the death of her sister. Maybe if she'd have said something, she would still be alive. She would repeat these sort of things to herself in her head. They were killing her inside. Daryl noticed one day when her lips were silently moving.

He touched her knee. "Beth. It's not your fault." She stopped speaking silently to herself a just looked down at her hands in her lap. She didn't say anything after that. He turned back to the wall. He threw small rocks at it that were the used-to-be prison walls.

"Daryl," Beth mumbled. Her voice was scratchy and throaty. "What if it was my fault?" She continued. Daryl turned around and looked up at her from on the floor. She was sitting on the edge of her mattress while Daryl was sitting on the ground next to her.

"It wasn't, Beth. There's nothing you could have done. Or Glenn. Or anyone else except for the idiot himself." Beth took in a deep breath and nodded. She still wasn't convinced- and didn't think that she ever would be- but she knew that she needed to get out of the small bubble that she was in. Maggie wasn't here, but everyone else was.

Beth stood with Daryl at her side. He gave her a questioning look, raising an eyebrow at her. She gave him a small, weak smile and nodded then stepped out of the small cell. No glances went her way. She didn't want the attention, anyway.

Rick was over by the broken stairwell talking to Carl and Michonne. Sasha and Bob were nowhere to be found, and Glenn was leaning against on of the other cells talking to Tara, Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene, who were newbies to the group. Daryl and Beth moved to the other cell block to sit at the table.

When it was just them, Beth started asking questions. "Do you know what's gonna happen to Vince?" Daryl hesitates before he answers. "What?" Beth asks. "We decided to let you and Glenn choose his fate. You two were the closest to Maggie."

Beth's eyes widened. She really didn't want to be out on the spot, but Glenn was also deciding. She wanted to let the man free. He didn't know that Maggie wasn't bad. He thought she was going to hurt them, along with the rest of the group.

But if they did let him out, there's a huge possibility that he would go crawling back to Terminus and tell him that Beth and Daryl were holed up in the prison. Or he could just find his way back to the jail and kill them all.

Beth sighed. If they killed him, it would be for Maggie's life. Vengeance. And they would be ending a man's life. Lives were precious in this world. Everyone in the building was incredibly lucky to be alive, let alone the whole world.

She finally shrugged. "I honestly don't know what to do." Daryl felt bad for the girl. Her sister had just died and now the group was putting her in charge of taking care of her murderer. Rick hasn't listened to him when he suggested that they vote.

Glenn walked in the metal door that moment. He sat next to Daryl with a depressed look on his face. Beth felt the same as he looked. "We should kill him." His voice was full of hatred.

Beth and Daryl looked at him in disbelief. He was acting completely out of character. This wasn't him, Beth thought. Nobody else spoke. "No." Beth said after a few moments of silence. "Maggie wouldn't want that." Her voice was small and soft when she voiced her thoughts.

Glenn's head whipped up to look at her. "You don't know what she would've wanted." His voice raised a bit. "Of course I do! I was her sister!" Her voice raised _a lot_ and cracked on the word was. She stood up from the table in anger. Without another look back, she raced out of the cell block, leaving Daryl and Glenn behind her.

**A/N: I'm so glad that I didn't get hate comments from the last chapter! And, yes, I uploaded this chapter earlier today, but it was from a different device, so it was all screwed up. Here's the HOPEFULLY right version of the chapter! Also, I've been having trouble finding ideas for this story, and I want it to continue for a LONG TIME! And, if you guys do too, please PM me your ideas! If I really like your idea, I'll put it in the story, dedicate thee chapter to you, AND give you full credit for it! I promise! So, please PM me your ideas if you have any! I'm very open-minded and will get back to you on your idea ASAP! Thanks for reading!**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: IMPORTANT A/N AT BOTTOM! Happy reading!**

Chapter 27

Beth walked right out the door, slamming it behind her. The cold air hit her as soon as she stepped outside and she wrapped her arms around her torso as a silent tear slid down her cheek. She stood next to the door and slid down the brick wall. Bodies from the battle still lied on the ground. Beth looked down at her feet. A blotch of dried blood was next to her.

In an instant, she felt like she wanted to kill the man who had shot Maggie. She felt an overwhelming rage inside that she'd never felt before. Then she remembered that she, too, would be a murderer. Her compassion over flooded the hatred as she sighed and leaned her elbows against her knees then held her face in her hands.

It was murky outside. Storm clouds hovered in the air and thunder echoed in the distance. If it stormed, it would be a huge problem for the people in the prison, considering they had many big holes in the wall due to the tank that the Governor had had.

Beth wasn't surprised when the door opened next to her after a few minutes. She didn't need to look up to see who it was. Daryl went around her and sat beside her up against the wall. "I know it's hard. I had to… put Merle down when he turned. It was unbearable at first." Beth nodded when he didn't say anything else. She still didn't look up.

Daryl really reached out for her still hand that was sitting on her knee. He gently grabbed onto it and squeezed it. She squeezed his hand back. "We need to let Vince go." Beth said, then finally glanced sideways at Daryl. He nodded. "Okay. I'll tell Glenn." Beth shook her head. "We'll both tell him." Daryl studied her expression for a while, then nodded and pulled them both inside the prison.

Before the door slammed shut behind them, they heard a clap of thunder that seemed closer than the last one. No heads turned Beth and Daryl's way when they stepped inside. Beth was still gripping Daryl's hand as she used the other one to angrily swipe off the tear on her cheek.

They walked back to the other prison block, but Glenn was nowhere to be found. Beth felt the urge to shrug her shoulders and walk away, but she sat back down at the table to wait for him. Daryl sat down next to her this time, instead of across from her.

Rick entered the other cell block after Glenn didn't come back. Beth lifted her head to watch him cross the room and sit across from them. "The funeral for Maggie is starting soon.." He blurted out. Beth tried to swallow, but a big lump in her throat was blocking it. She nodded and stood with Daryl. "Okay." They followed Rick out the door and automatically assumed that Glenn was out there.

Lightning cracked in the sky a few miles away. Rick, Beth, and Daryl all walked out of the prison the back way, where all of the buried loved ones were. Lori, T-Dog, and Axel all lie there. Now Maggie will.

When they arrived at the grave, Glenn wasn't there. Beth unlatched Daryl's hand and grabbed his forearm for support. She wasn't sure if she was going to cry or not when Rick started speaking. "Maggie was a part of this group since the farm. She was a warrior, A survivor. One of us." Beth couldn't help but tune him out. He was forgetting to mention her other traits.

Maggie had always tucked Beth in at night when she was little. She would play games with her to distract her when she got scared of a thunderstorm. She was _always _there for her, even when Beth was being irrational. Rick forgot to mention all of that, but Beth silently did.

When it was all over, people started to walk away. Beth stayed, still holding onto Daryl's arm as if it were her life support. Daryl didn't try to make a move to leave. He knew how much it was for her. When she lightly tugged his arm, she dropped her hand to his and clutched onto it again. Without a glance back, they started toward the door of the prison.

As soon as they opened the door, they heard yelling. "I need to do this Rick!" Beth's eyes widened. It was Glenn's voice. She heard a gun cock, then raced to the other cell block with Daryl beside her. When they got inside, Beth locked eyes with Glenn. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw a pistol up against his forehead.

"Glenn." She gently started walking towards him, dropping Daryl's hand and leaving him behind. "You don't have to do this." She pleaded him with her eyes. Tears were going down Glenn's face. "Yes I do, Beth."

**A/N: Oh no! Glenn! If you want him to live (or die) READ THIS! I'm leaving his fate in your hands! PM me what you want to happen to Glenn! If you want him to live, message me! If you want to kill him, message me! The votes will be in Friday or Saturday on the next update! DO NOT REVIEW YOUR VOTE! I won't be able to see them until AFTER the next update, so you will have to message me your decision. Thanks for reading!**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Glenn switched the safety off of his gun as Beth took another hesitant step towards him. "Glenn," she spoke. She held her hand out as she took another step. "We can get through this together. It doesn't have to be this way." Another step. "Maggie wouldn't want this." Two more steps. "Just give me the gun." Her voice was shaking by now.

Glenn's finger slowly moved off of the trigger as he moved the pistol away from his temple, his hand shaking. He dropped the gun into Beth's hand as he fell to the ground, violently shaking and sobbing.

Beth clicked the safety off and tucked the pistol into the holster on her thigh, then dropped to the ground, tears falling down her face, and wrapped her arms around Glenn. They both mourned Maggie's death together, falling apart.

One by one, the rest of the group left the cell block. Daryl lingered by the entrance for a few seconds before he finally left, leaving the two step siblings to grieve the loss of their beloved.

Beth's eyes dried before Glenn's did. He wanted to be alone to grieve. After taking away all the weapons on him, she exited the cell block and went back to her private cell on the bottom floor. No one else was there, so she automatically assumed that they were all outside, not wanting to hear Glenn's sobs ring out through the building.

Metal clanking was suddenly heard from one of the other cells. Beth stood off of her bed and exited the private area to go out into the hall. "Glenn?" She asked. Her voice echoed throughout the hall. When she got no response, her hand lingered towards the pistol in her waistband.

Beth slowly crept up the stairs in the direction of the noise. "Rick? Daryl, is that you?" She still asked the thin air, even though she was almost positive that it wasn't either. Before she had time to process it, one of the cell doors swung open in front of Beth.

She stumbled back, taking her pistol out of her holster. Vince came out of the cell, charging towards Beth. She clicked the trigger right before he tackled her to the ground. No sound was made except for the grunt she made against the impact of the concrete.

Beth tried to throw him off of her, but his knees were on her elbows and his feet were pinning down her knees. She spit in his face in an effort to get him off of her, but he only loosened his hold. It was enough for Beth, though.

Mustering up all of her strength, she quickly threw Vince to the side. She

scrambled off the ground and flew towards the gun lying on the ground by the wall. Right before it was in her grasp, she was thrown to the ground again. Instead of holding her down, Vince wrapped both hands around the blonde's throat, cutting off her air.

Beth's eyes widened as she scratched and clawed at the man's hands. A vile look was on his face as he tried to strangle her. Before she could process what was happening, her vision started to go black and her limbs were getting weak. But not weak enough for her to fail and throwing a fist at Vince's throat.

He coughed when her knuckles collided with his Adam's apple. His grip loosened enough for Beth to grab the pocket knife in her front pocket and shove it into his heart.

Vince's face turned into sheer horror as he made a gurgling noise in the back of his throat. Beth yanked the knife out of him and threw him to the ground next to her. She hastily stood, not bothering examining the front of her shirt which was now covered in his blood.

She looked down at the ded man in front of her. So many people had died recently. She wanted it to stop. Everyone did. She knew she didn't have much time left. He would turn soon. A single tear going down her face, she grabbed the pistol off of the ground next to Vince's dead body.

She'd forgotten to switch off the safety. When she first shot at him, the safety wasn't off. That's why no shot had rang out. She made sure to switch it off before kneeling down and placing the barrel on Vince's forehead. Before pulling the trigger, she squeezed her eyes shut and looked away.

The shot made Beth's ears ring. When it was done, she still couldn't find herself to look at the dead body of her once friend, lying on the ground. So many people have been dying in the world. She remembered a moment that her and Daryl had once shared after her boyfriend Zach had died. They'd both wished that people would stop dying. That wish still exists today.

The group came rushing in the prison as soon as they heard the gunshot from the inside. They didn't glance once upstairs; they'd automatically assumed that it was Glenn who'd pulled the trigger. They were wrong.

Glenn also came rushing into the other cell block. His cheeks were tear stained, but he was still worried about what the source of the noise was. Beth cleared her throat. "Up here." She stood to show herself more. Daryl saw her first and rushed upstairs. He stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the scene in front of him.

Daryl looked up at Beth as the pistol fell from her shaky hands. He immediately came to her side, grabbing her shoulders as silent sobs racked her body. Before he could really process what he was doing, he'd wrapped his arms around her as the other flooded upstairs.

"What happened, Beth?" Rick asked. She pulled away from Daryl and took a deep breath before answering. "He somehow got out of his cell and tried to kill me. So I had to kill him." Daryl felt a surge of guilt. He knew that they shouldn't have left Glenn and Beth alone. But, he was also almost proud. He knew Beth could take care of herself. She had before. She was getting stronger by the second and he knew that if he'd left or died, that she would be fine.

**A/N: This chapter is a little bit on the longer side! I was up all night last night just writing a lot with my new laptop! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it! People are just dropping like flies in these past few chapters. So, obviously, you guys voted for Glenn living! And I was... sorta... thinking that it would be AMAZING if you guys left me more in depth reviews, just so I know what you guys REALLY think of the story. You ABSOLUTELY don't have to, but it would be really cool if you could. THANKS FOR READING! LET'S TRY TO GET 100 FOLLOWS! ALMOST THERE!**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

That night, Daryl found himself keeping his distance from Beth. When she went up to talk to him, he wouldn't get into the conversation with her. He would just think of an excuse to use so he could leave.

All of the group walked to the other prison to have a "campfire." It was storming outside and the walkers would see the smoke, then come rushing to the broken fences and overpower them. They certainly didn't want a repeat of what happened at Hershel's farm. Or their first camp in Atlanta, but most of the group wasn't there.

Instead of actually starting a fire in the prison, Beth gathered all her candles that she had in her room that weren't ruined and they sat them in the middle of the floor, then gathered around in a circle. It was mostly for Maggie, so Daryl attended for Beth's sake, though he still kept his distance.

Everyone was quiet when they all sat there. Rick spoke up first and looked at Glenn. "Remember that time in Atlanta when we were getting everyone else out of the department store, and we got you a car then set off the alarm? You drove around in that thing all the way back to the camp with it blaring." Glenn smiled at that memory, despite the current circumstances.

Rick looked at Daryl next, who was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "And remember that time when you came walking out of the woods, back at the farm, with ears around your neck and an arrow in your side, then Andrea almost shot you?" Daryl chuckled a bit, but enough to bring a small smile to Beth's face.

After more laughs and smiles from good and not-so good memories, Beth stopped smiling when she realized something. She had no good memories. The only memory she'd had that she could remember when her trying to kill herself, but that wasn't exactly a good one.

Beth suddenly stood, not bothering to excuse herself from the small gathering. The only person that noticed her presence gone was Daryl. He was the only one that didn't sit there and smile along with the stories.

Beth walked alone in pitch black to the main cell block. She knew the turns and curves of the prison well enough to navigate herself in the darkness. When she got back to her cell, there was the light of the full moon to see. It cast a glow on the side of her face.

Daryl stepped into the cell soundlessly, and when he said her name, she practically jumped ten feet in the air, startling her. She put a shaky hand on her chest. "Daryl, don't do that. You scared the-" "What happened back there?" he asked, interrupting her.

Beth shrugged. "I just didn't wanna be an intrusion." Daryl shook his head and sat down next to her. "Plus, you've been ignoring me all night, so I figured that you guys would just want to be alone. It's not gonna be a big deal if I'm not there." She shrugged a shoulder as if it was no big deal.

"It is a big deal. You're a part of the group. Everyone is important." These words surprised both himself and Beth. It wasn't like him to be… sentimental. She scoffed. "Yeah, well, I wasn't very important before I got that." She pointed at the crossbow. "Just for taking care of Judith, which I failed at. She's with Carol and Tyreese now, who are stuck at Terminus."

"Beth," Daryl stated firmly. She glanced over at him. "Yeah?" Her face was glowing in the moonlight which made Daryl's breath hitch in his throat. "You're important. You matter." _At least to me,_ Daryl wanted to add. Beth looked up into his eyes and surprisingly put a hand on his cheek, leaned forward, and planted a kiss on his forehead, immediately making her cheeks heat up.

Her lips lingered on his head for a while before she pulled away and sat back down again. She left her hand on his stubbly face until she sat down.

Daryl suddenly felt a swell in his chest when he looked at Beth again. She smiled at him, and that surprisingly made him a bit weak in the knees. He had the urge to lean forward and plant his lips on hers, but the smaller part of him told him to get up and walk away. He decided to obey the smaller part. Without another look at the blonde, he stood and walked away, knowing that he couldn't ignore the attraction much longer.

**A/N: YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! FEELINGS ARE FINALLY COMING OUT! I have AMAZING plans for next chapter IF YOU GUYS CAN GET ME TO 100 FOLLOWS! AS SOON AS I GET 100 (SO FREAKING CLOSE) I'M UPLOADING A SUPER SPECIAL CHAPTER! I'M JUST A BALL OF ENERGY TODAY! LOL! Anyway, please review BECAUSE I LOVE THEM, please favorite, and please follow BECAUSE WE'RE ALMOST TO 100! THANKS FOR READING! ALSO, it would be REALLY COOL if one of you guys could give me a thorough-ish review that explains what this story might need improvement with or if it's bad! Pretty much anything! THANKS FOR READING!**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my VERY, VERY lovely followers, favoriters, and reviewers to this story. HAPPY READING!**

Chapter 30

Beth stayed in her cell after Daryl left, incredibly confused. After she'd given him the kiss on the forehead, she felt a flow of energy. She'd wanted to lean forward and kiss him, but he got up before she could move. She wondered if he felt it, too, then assumed that he hadn't. He wouldn't like someone like her; young and ignorant. She still considered it, though.

Beth stood up from the bed, suddenly angry. He couldn't just ignore her like that, talk to her and have an intimate moment, then walk away again. She refused to just be gum on the bottom of somebody's shoe.

"Daryl!" She called out. She angrily stomped out of the cell block and into one of the tombs, which was pitch black. Her hand landed on her pistol at her side, warily walking deeper in the dark tunnels. "Daryl!" She called again. Her answer was footsteps.

Beth leaned forward an inch to examine the sound. "Daryl?" She whispered, fully whipping out her pistol and switching the safety off. A snarl echoed through the tunnel she was in, then many more.

Beth cursed in the dark as she turned and started to run out of the tombs. She didn't get very far, though.

Beth was suddenly tackled to the ground on her stomach by a walker. She wildly guessed where its brain was and pulled the trigger. It snarled some more as more pressure fell on her, no doubt walkers piling up on her.

Beth shot the air again, trying to hit the attacker's heads. After one more shot, she only felt the walker directly on top of her go limp. And she was out of ammo. She still fought off the other ones on top of her, pushing away one's forehead from her shoulder, growling from the effort. The walker's head practically broke in half from the fighting, but it was still going against her. Its jaw was just broken.

Beth started hyperventilating. She had never had to face this many walkers before, and she was afraid that she would be getting out alive. Before she knew what she was happening, she screamed. "Daryl!" Her plea was desperate and scared.

She couldn't hold off the walkers much longer. She felt the walkers clawing at her dirty sweater, ripping at the fabric. She screamed again, realizing that soon she would be getting eaten or getting scratched or bit. Either way, death was inevitable.

Beth's breathing got heavy as tears fell down her face. She struggled, even when her arms and legs ached. She didn't want to die like this; she couldn't. "Daryl!" She shrieked again. She almost sobbed of relief when she heard Daryl's reply. "Beth!" His call wasn't close, but it was frantic.

"Daryl!" Beth yelled out. Her throat ached from all of the yelling that she's done, but she held out. Footsteps rushed her way but she still fought. A light shined in her eyes as gunshots could be heard behind her. She stayed tense and struggling until the gunshots were over and the snarling stopped. Beth felt stupid; she'd been so mad that she'd forgotten a flashlight.

Daryl helped her throw all of the walkers off of her, then helped her stand. She encircled her arms around him as soon as they were both standing straight, hugging him as tight as her exhausted body could. Daryl squeezed her back.

As soon as she pulled away, which wasn't very soon, Beth looked up into his eyes. She could barely see, though the flashlight helped a bit. "Thank you," she whispered. He didn't reply. Then she did something incredibly surprising: she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her soft lips against his for the first time. _Finally._

**A/N: YYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY! YOU GUYS ARE SIMPLY AMAZING! 101 FOLLOWS! WOOHOO! WE DID IT! Anyway, I told you guys that I would put up the super special chapter today if I got 100 follows (THEY KISSED! THEY'RE KISSING!), and I didn't expect to get 100 follows TODAY, so I had to write the chapter really quickly. I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! I went into this website thinking "Oh, look. A website where you can write and post stuff. I'll give it a try." I was so wrong about it. You guys are SSSOOO important to me! I love you all so much! I honestly don't think I would've continued this story if it weren't for you guys, and now I'm thinking that I'm gonna write a sequel when I finish this one! You guys and all of my friends mean the world to me because you like my story and my writing! Also, special thanks to kevkye for the LOVELY review! When you said that I'm an amazing reader, I'm not gonna lie, it brought a few tears in my eyes. I'm VERY dedicated to my writing and I'm really emotional. I just wanted to give you all a big THANK YOU! THANKS FOR READING AND STICKING WITH THE STORY THESE PAST 2 (?) MONTHS! I LOVE YOU ALL!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Please read A/N at bottom! HAPPY READING!**

Chapter 31

Beth wrapped her arms around Daryl's neck and stood on her tiptoes. She felt a slow, burning fire in her chest when he started to kiss back. Their lips moved together in sync as if they were made for each other. Daryl's mind protested against the actions, but being with Beth overpowered it.

They both pulled away not too much later. Beth had a look of horror on her face, while Daryl's expression was… almost happy. Before either of them could say anything else, Beth ran off, completely embarrassed. Yet she didn't regret doing what she did.

Beth say against the watchtower wall with her knees up to her chest. There was only one tower left standing, and it was on the other side of the prison. Maybe Daryl wouldn't find her here.

She didn't know what exactly Daryl would think of her. She assumed that he thought she was a stupid little girl who knew nothing of what she was doing. She couldn't help it, though, when her mind kept drifting back to their kiss. He had kissed her back. _Probably out of pity, _she added silently.

_But, _her thoughts continued, _Daryl wasn't someone who did stuff because they felt bad for people. The chance that he _did _do it out of pity was probably slim to nothing. _And he didn't. Back at the prison, Daryl was still frozen in the tunnels.

He didn't know what to feel about the situation. Bottom line was that Beth had kissed him. And he kissed her back. He let out a string of curse words as the shock faded. Beth had ran away. He had to find her.

A single tear went down Beth's cheek as she wondered what else Daryl may or may not think of her. She wondered if he thought she was a tramp. Like he'd said before at the moonshine house, she lost two boyfriends and moved on pretty quickly. But Daryl was different.

For one, Daryl wasn't a boyfriend. He was a fellow survivor, but a bit more. Actually a lot more. And Beth would be practically broken if he'd died or left. She didn't know it, but he would feel the same. Beth stood from her spot and walked over to the railing of the watch tower.

She propped her elbows up on it and looked up at the stars in the sky. The moon was full tonight, so the night was more illuminated than most. She sighed and angrily wiped another tear from off of her cheek.

_Stop being so stupid, Beth, _she scolded herself. _Stop crying for no reason._ She remembered when she was the weak little girl at the country club and when the prison was still up. She barely even knew how to use a gun. She'd gotten so much stronger and she didn't want to throw it all away, crying over practically nothing.

Down below, Daryl burst through the main entrance of the prison, already getting soaked from the rain. The thunder and lightning had died down. "Beth!" he called out. Her head snapped up out of her hands and looked down at the ground. Daryl had looked through the rest of the prison in a rush, looking for Beth. He was almost certain that she was outside. And he was right.

Beth cleared her throat, ready to give away her presence. She couldn't hide forever. But before she could open her mouth, she heard many snarls come from the other side of the tower. Her eyes widened as she rushed over to look at the other side. What she saw made a swirling a fear start up in her cHest. A herd of walkers were coming their way, about 150 yards away. Beth went into action immediately.

Without hesitation, she switched sides on the tower again to warn Daryl. "Daryl!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. He looked up at her as soon as he heard his name, then became alert. "Walkers!" She shouted.

Daryl had to strain his ears to be able to hear the on word, but he figured it out soon enough. And when someone screamed "walkers," it certainly wasn't going to be good. "Stay there!" he yelled to her, then ran inside.

After grabbing Beth's crossbow and his own, he ran to the other side of the prison to warn the others. "Walkers are coming," he said as soon as he got there. Everyone went into action as Daryl ran back outside to check on Beth. As soon as he stepped foot in the night, he saw what Beth was talking about.

Enough walkers to fill a football field were all snarling and growling, coming towards the prison. Daryl quickly raced up to the tower to join Beth. When he got up there, though, he became as panicked as ever. Beth was gone.

**A/N: So... That happened. How did you guys feel about their first kiss? And where do you think Beth went? I know... this chapter wasn't very interesting. The next one will be action-packed, though. They're gonna do some walker killing! So sorry for the slow update! I'm going to be busy next week a lot, so expect either 8 in the morning updates or 4 in the afternoon on all my stories! Hopefully going to be uploading another chapter for Angels and Demons and Walking On Hot Coals sometime this weekend. :) Anyway, I honestly don't know how long this story is gonna last. Maybe 50 chapters, maybe 40. I have no clue. But I wanted to ask you guys if you wanted a sequel or not when I DO finish it so I can start planning in advance. Just review or PM me if you do or not or if you don't give a crap about a sequel. If you guys want me to carry on with this journey after this story ends, I DEFINITELY WILL! Please review, favorite, and follow this story because... yeah. If anyone could give me a detailed review about it that would be AMAZING! Of course you don't have to, but it would be pretty cool and it would put a smile on my face all day long! THANKS FOR READING! :)**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Daryl's heart was pounding in his chest as he scanned the place around himself, desperate to see Beth. But she wasn't there. He didn't see her. He still tried, though. "BETH!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. The herd was almost right next to the tower, and it was obvious that the girl wasn't up here.

Daryl let out a string of curse words as he hurriedly climbed down the tower and dropped onto the ground, gripping his crossbow as felt her crossbow slamming against his back as he ran. Rick and Carl came up by his side and Glenn and the others weren't far behind.

"We need to go!" Rick shouted. The walkers weren't very far. "I need Beth!" Right after those words left his mouth, he quickly covered it up. "I gotta look for her," and he realized both statements were true. He'd lost a lot of people in this world and he wasn't going to have Beth being one of them. Again.

"We don't have any time!" Rick shouted back. The walkers had picked up their pace. "No! I gotta find Beth!" "Daryl!" Rick grabbed Daryl's arm with the hand that wasn't holding the revolver. "We all need you with us." Daryl wanted to protest. He wanted to tell Rick everything that Beth and him had been through, but there was no time.

Rick was right. They had to leave. But it killed Daryl inside the minute that he realized what was right. He would come back later, he decided. If there was a later.

Daryl reluctantly nodded and spun around, holding his crossbow at eye level, to put a bolt through the first walker's eye. It glided in easily as Daryl stepped forward and took the arrow back, then reloaded. Many shots rang out in the air from guns before the survivors turned and ran, leaving behind the prison once again.

They all made sure to stay together, instead of like last time. It was incredibly difficult to see around in the woods, almost impossible, but Rick had the idea of bringing a flashlight and other supplies before fleeing.

The noise of growling walkers never faded. It was almost as if they were all around them, but they couldn't see any. It was terrifying.

Beth's crossbow slammed up against Daryl's back every time he took another step. A pang of guilt hit him each time. It literally hurt inside his chest with each agonizing step he took away from Beth. He pictured her being torn to pieces by walkers, being trampled by them and eaten. Or worse; turning into one of them.

Daryl tried his best to shove the image out of his mind. Beth, limping around, craving blood. Her eyes dead and emotionless. Daryl felt like screaming when he saw this mental image and he had an overwhelming urge to go back to the spot he had left her in. To search every corner of every room. But it was too late and he knew it.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Beth could hear her loud heartbeat in her ears as her wet, dirty hair stuck to her sweaty forehead. Her cheek was pressed up against cool metal on the ground as her eyes swung open.

Her vision was blurry for a while and the back of her head ached horribly, then she blinked and she could see fine again. She slowly sat up and instinctively reached over for her crossbow when she looked around. But it wasn't there.

She slowly stood as she looked around to take in the setting. She recognized it immediately. She was back at Terminus. She was in the same warehouse where she had been dragged into before, where her and Daryl had found the body with its intestines spilled out over itself and with writing on the wall.

The thing that bothered Beth the most was that she was lying on the same table the body had been on. Dry blood covered the metal table she was on and she shuddered in disgust. She tried to move her legs, but one of them felt numb. She looked down at her legs and almost screamed when she saw her right one.

A bone stuck out of her calf covered in blood. Her leg had no feel to it, therefore she had no clue about her new injury. Before she could swallow it back down, bile rose in her throat and she leaned over the table to empty her stomach. Almost as soon as she sat back up, her foot twitched. The pain came then.

A searing pain spread between her foot and her thigh. It hurt so bad, a scream ripped through her throat and her hands gripped the sides of the table. When the scream broke off, she starting panting. One question flooded through her mind. Where was Daryl? Before she could get an answer to that question, the warehouse door creaked open.

Beth could barely see who it was that walked in because they turned around and locked it before she could get a look at their face. That, and black spots were dotting her vision. She had to stay awake for this, though.

******When the person turned around, Beth saw her enemy in front of her. She wanted to scream billions of obscenities, but she was afraid that if she opened her mouth another scream would come out. Standing in front of Beth with the eeriest smile she's ever seen was Carol.**

**A/N: Did anybody else, like, die that chapter? That was so hard to write! And we finally see Carol again! Do you guys think that the setting and that Carol was there is connected. Also, it was really hard for me t write the Beth part of this chapter because just... yeah. I hate torturing the people I'm writing about when I write. Who's excited about the Bethyl reunion?! I certianly am! But, we'll unfortunately have to wait a while! I still need to write it, and I wanna space it out a bit to have more build up and anxiousness for when they DO reunite. SSSOOO sorry for the wait! Lucky for me, and maybe you, i finished camp! More regular updates! Please favorite, follow, and review this story becasue I love feedback and stuff and I love to hear what y'all think of my story! THANKS FOR READING! **


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO MEH NEW BETA READER, jazznsmoke, FOR EDITING THIS CHAPTER! HAPPY READING!

Chapter 33

Beth was beyond shocked. A thousand thoughts were running through her mind. How did she get here? What was Carol going to do? The biggest question in her mind, though, where was Daryl?

Carol stepped forward and pulled out a long hunting knife. "Nice to see you again, Beth." Beth narrowed her eyes the best she can while trying to ignore the agonizing pain. She holds back a scream as she opens her mouth to ask a question. "Where's Daryl?"

Carol's lip curled back in a sneer as she gripped the handle of the knife so hard her knuckles turned white. Beth knew she had asked the wrong question. Carol made her way towards Beth, raising the knife above her head.

When the knife came down on top of Beth, her weak grip grabbed Carol's forearm when it was right above her stomach. The blood loss from her leg made her a lot weaker, so she had to use all of her effort to force Carol's arm back. She wasn't going to die like this.

The door suddenly opened behind them. Carol stopped fighting enough for Beth to force her hand back. Carol spun around to face the person walking in. It was Gareth. He held a syringe in his hand with an odd orange liquid inside.

"Carol. Didn't we agree not to kill her yet?" Yet. Beth almost shivered at that, but she was too frozen in fear. "Sorry. Just couldn't really help myself." She sounded like her teeth were gritted, but Beth couldn't see her face. "She's awake."

Gareth's eyes drifted over Beth's face, then noticed her leg and smiled. A gleam of hatred and disgust showed in his eyes when he looked at Beth. He didn't look away as he asked. "You did that to her leg?"

Beth saw Carol nod from the corner of her eye, but she kept holding her gaze on Gareth as he lazily weaved the syringe in between his fingers as if it were a toy instead of a possibly lethal weapon.

Gareth made his way to Beth now, pointing the syringe at her neck. She tried to reach her hands up to cover herself, but Carol held her arms down on the table before she could do anything.

Beth felt the needle first, but the liquid inside of it made her wince, then groan. She felt herself going unconscious right away. She fought to keep her eyes open and tried to keep struggling, but the urge to sleep overwhelmed her.

She soon found herself falling asleep to the muffled sound of Carol and Gareth whispering. She'd heard the word Daryl right before she fell asleep, causing him to flood her dreams as she drifted into a deep drug induced slumber.

Daryl panted as he stopped on the path right outside the forest, raising his crossbow in front of him while the rest of his group came up behind him. The now risen sun shone in his eyes and he looked around at his surroundings. After he saw everything was clear, the group sat down on the side of the road.

Daryl found thoughts of Beth running through his mind as he rested, yet he still stayed alert. Rick had ventured a while ahead with Michonne, but they still stayed just barely in sight. After Daryl had gotten his breath back, he stood and caught up to them just as they were looking at the windshield of a broken down car. One door was missing and a bottle of spray paint was lying beside it.

As Daryl stepped up to the car, Rick sighed and ran a hand through his messy, graying hair. "What's goin' on?" They stayed silent as Daryl read the words on the car. It was clear the message was meant for him. _If you want your Beth back, you know where to go. Carol._ Daryl cursed and felt a surge of guilt in his chest. At least he knew where Beth was, but still had no clue if she was safe.

Daryl turned to Rick, who was looking at the ground as his right hand rested on the pistol in its thigh sheath. "We gotta go. I'll go without ya if I gotta." Rick looked over at Daryl, opening his mouth to reply, but Daryl cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say.

"They have Judith. She's alive."

Rick's eyes widened at this statement. "Where?"

"Back at Terminus. Tyreese is there, too." Daryl wondered if Tyreese was in on the whole plan, as well. He doubted it, but he also didn't believe that Carol could ever turn this cold. Rick didn't ask any more questions. They left that day, all wanting to reunite with their family. Sasha was ecstatic when she learned that her brother was still alive.

As they made their way to Terminus, all Daryl could do was hope that Beth could hold out long enough for them to get there. She had to.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so happy! I had a really good day today! I'm totally ready to wind down and watch some good old TWD! Tell meh how you guys thought of this chapter in the reviews! Reviews mean so much to me, good or bad. And, once again, thanks so much to jazznsmoke for editing this chapter and hopefully future chapters, too! Please follow this story, follow me, favorite this story, favorite me, and review this story! That would be so awesome! Btw, YAY I'M PLANNING FOR A SEQUEL! Hopefully, the chapters will be longer, though the updates will be further apart, but it will be more action-packed! Maybe even more romance between Beth and Daryl! I have no clue when it will be, though. Anyway... THANKS FOR READING! :)


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